Hammering Out Answer for Grandson
For a grandson, Eileen Coughlin of Lomita wants to buy a child’s carpenter belt with tools. Can you help nail down a source, or will Coughlin just have to keep hammering away until this gut-wrenching task is finished?
Libbie Barach of Los Angeles needs a wall-mounted soap-and-lotion dispenser for a bathroom with limited counter space. She’d prefer a dispenser that doesn’t look commercial. Please don’t wash your hands of this matter, but help by showering Barach with sources, so that she won’t have to climb the wall because the answer is no soap.
Joan Greenberg of West Los Angeles is trying to locate a macrame kit for making a carrousel lamp. The lamp has ceramic horses and is for a child’s room. Can you get up on your horse and find a macrame store, or will Greenberg have to keep going around in circles?
Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Charlotte at (818) 784-4171, who has to lose poundage in a hurry, needs a copy of an out-of-print book, “How to Reduce and Control Your Weight Through Self-Hypnotism,” by Sidney Petrie and Robert B. Stone (1965). Please get this weighty problem off your mind and at the same time help cut Charlotte down to size. . . . Adela at (714) 864-3207, who is trying to make a carpet, would like to get hold of some unopened kits of Rug Crafters ; that firm has gone out of business. Please don’t call Adela on the carpet, but help her so that she can once again start cutting the rug. . . . Maria at (818) 790-7412 needs to replace a glass mixing bowl, model No. 18, for a 1953 Kitchen Aid mixer. Since this was a long time ago, please help before Maria gets all mixed up in her kitchen.
Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items and for products no longer available in stores. And you must give us written permission to publish your telephone number, so that others may contact you directly.
The salad days are perhaps not yet over for Ida LaBelle of Mission Viejo, who was looking for a large wooden salad bowl that stands beside a dining-room table. H. W. Roesener of the Catered Crowd, a gift store in the Market Place, corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Westminster Avenue in Long Beach, states that they have the wood pieces that would complement the salad bowl.
For John Dubock of Pasadena, who was looking for wide bedroom slippers, Phyllis Brown of Los Angeles has good news. She states that Birkenstock Footprints in Sherman Oaks, (818) 788-8443, carries wide sandals that can serve as slippers. She adds that May Co., Broadway and Robinson’s carry booty slippers that come in wide sizes, and she suggests that Dubock buy them one size larger than his regular shoe size.
Mrs. R. M. Enevoldsen of Woodland Hills, who was looking for a large, cylindrical squirrel cage, need not go nuts after all. Danielle Weber of Dani’s Rabbiery in West Covina, (818) 919-1022, wrote that she can build a cage for Enevoldsen for about $50. We also heard from two readers who are willing to part with large cages; the letters were forwarded to Enevoldsen.
Marlene Bradley of Brentwood, who was looking for antique handles and knobs, may soon have more than she can handle. Locally, Walt Greenes of Southern California Craftsmen, Sherman Oaks, (818) 907-7544, and Harry Sylvester of Montebello, (213) 721-3478, say they have a few and can get more. Phyllis Brown of Los Angeles suggests some of the larger antique stores. Thomas I. McClintock of Ventura mentions catalogue No. 52 by Craftsman Wood Service Co., 1735 W. Cortland St., Addison, Ill. 60101. And nine readers recommended The Renovator’s Supply, Renovator’s Old Mill, Millers Falls, Mass. 01349. Thanks to John C. Elliott of San Marino, Alice Bray of Santa Barbara, Harrison Harkins of Altadena, Pat Gunderman of Orange, K. Marron of Santa Ana, Josette Kilmer of Rancho Palos Verdes, Kay Lyon of Cutler, Kay Rios of Downey and E. R. Lesan of Los Angeles.
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.