Finding the Way to Keep Herself in Stitches

Now for some pillow talk: Doris Bower of Arcadia is looking for a place that sells the pillow kits that are used in candlewicking stitchery, a craft popular in Colonial times. The store she used to get the stenciled kits from no longer carries them. Can you help, or will Bower have to look forward to some serious pillow fights?

Dagmar Hert of Colton would like to locate a clamp-on shade for one of those screw-in, circular fluorescent lamps--assuming such a shade exists. Can you help shed some light on this problem, or will Hert have to carry on her shady activities somewhere else?

Along with several other readers, William S. Murphy of Los Angeles is looking for a hat-blocking service. Can you help with such a heady proposition, or will Murphy feel like a blockhead for not having put a cap on his search much sooner?

Off the top of the head we have another problem. An elderly reader named Nora, who will soon be completely bald, is looking for a hair covering that does not come down far in the back and has fewer curls than most wigs do. She likes to wear her hair up. Can you help, or will Nora just have to lock up her request?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Chris at (714) 432-7047 is looking for an adjustable floor-to-ceiling pole lamp with three lights ; that item was popular years ago but is no longer available. Please help and light up Chris’ life--in addition to her living room. . . . Richard at (213) 255-9502 needs Volumes 1 and 16 to complete his set of Collier’s Encyclopedia , first published in 1950 and again in 1970. Please help, so that Richard can go by the book again. . . . Judith at (213) 396-7933 is searching for someone to repair the Telechron clock and timer on a 20-year-old Western Holly stainless steel stove. Please help, so that Judith once again can count the hours till her next meal.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items and for products that are no longer available in stores. And you must give us written permission to publish your telephone number, so other readers may contact you.

B. J. of the Los Feliz area, who was looking for someone to make a house call on an ailing console record player and stereo, seems to have struck a chord. Since we published her request, we heard from Mrs. W. Goodhew of Palos Verdes, whose old Columbia Grafonola needs major surgery (broken playing arm), and from Doris McNeil of Oxnard, whose Magnavox stereo console has a faulty speaker and a non-working turntable. Unfortunately for our three readers, we have only one source for “radial” surgery: Phil Barr Radio Repair, 352 W. Avenue 41, Los Angeles, Calif. 90065, (213) 225-1848.

Herb Hain cannot answer mail personally but will, space permitting, respond in this column to readers who have--or need--helpful information. Write (do not telephone) to You Can Help!, You section, the Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.