Flypaper From Past May Stick the Best

Erika Spangler of Redondo Beach is stuck on obtaining some old-fashioned flypaper, either the spiral-type that hangs from the ceiling or the type that comes in sheets. The buzzword from her is that the modern contraptions are not effective. Can you help Spangler with her hang-up, or will this merely be another request that just won’t fly?

Two readers have a problem that has to be handled with kid gloves. B. Ferel of Huntington Beach is looking for Baby Touch Mittens (or a similar product) with which to stroke away flaky skin, facial hair and so on. And Joan Scott of Los Angeles wants to replace some thin, interchangeable cotton gloves (at one time available in pharmacies) for keeping medicated hand cream on the hands at night and away from bed sheets; she also used the gloves for putting on her panty hose without snagging them. Can you cotton to the needs of these two readers, or will both of them be convinced that their search has hit a snag?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Carma at (619) 464-3302 no longer can locate Delite Human Hair-style hair nets in gray ; these are single-strand nets without elastic. No need to rush headlong into this, but please help before Carma gets gray hair over this. . . . Two readers have a crystal-clear dilemma. Sheila at (818) 341-5869 is trying to complete a set of the Rosepoint pattern made by Cambridge, and Shirley at (213) 839-9666 wants to replace some wine and water goblets of an amber-colored Swedish-crystal pattern called either Bernadote or Bernadette, available 40 years ago at Bullock’s. Please help before the hopes of these two readers are shattered forever.

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

Since we printed the request from an English lady for used postage stamps, Ann Brodfuehrer of Ramona told us about an American organization that collects used stamps: Stamps for the Wounded, c/o Herman Neugass, 4201 Cathedral Ave. N.W., Apt. 924-E, Washington, D.C. 20016.

R. L. McAlpin, who was looking for a portable radio that plays eight-track cassettes, should track down someone at Panasonic. And Edythe Hamilton says she has had one of their Model RQ 832-S units for about seven years; it works on either AC or batteries. We also heard from two readers who have the radio McAlpin wants and are willing to part with it. A stamped, self-addressed envelope will put you on the right track.

Jeanne Klein, who’s trying to serve salad out of a wooden bowl shaped like a rose and with petals that can be removed and used as plates, is no longer in the soup. Mrs. Howard Thompson of Carpinteria, Virginia Douglas of Santa Barbara and Carol Loehman of Huntington Beach all say these salad bowls, imported from Thailand, are available at Abbey Garden Nursery, 4620 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria, Calif. 93013, (805) 684-5112; the cost is $30 plus tax and $10 shipping, for a total of $41.80. Lucile S. Way of La Habra says Tesoro’s, 1325 A. Mabini St., Ermita, Manila, Philippines, carries these bowls, which are hand-carved in the Philippines. But if Klein doesn’t want to go that far, we have two readers who are willing to part with their wooden salad bowls and leaves. A stamped, self-addressed envelope to us will get the “bowl” rolling.

For Jo of Fullerton, who was looking for old-fashioned match-stick bamboo curtains (not blinds), we have no sources so far but plenty of company. Mrs. R. Thezan of Culver City, Ruth Richards of Laguna Beach and Joanne Page of Sherman Oaks are also in the market for these curtains, which have vertical, narrow bamboo slats and fabric loop hangers. So let’s have some help, otherwise we’ll have to ring down the curtain on this bamboo boo-boo.

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