Searching for Leg Makeup for Summer

Ruth Donaldson of Glendale is trying to find leg makeup , which she claims is so practical in the summer and is cooler than hosiery. But cosmetic counters don’t seem to stock the product. Can you help before Donaldson gets cold feet over this situation, or won’t she have a leg to stand on this summer?

J. Levine of Long Beach is unable to find a replacement for an automatic closet light , which is operated by a spring-loaded plunger that moves in and out as the door opens and closes. Can you help our reader see the light, or will Levine be kept in the dark until someone lights up her life?

L. Simon of West Los Angeles is looking for a cloth parasol , not the Oriental type made of paper; it is for a senior citizen who must shun the sun. Can you help before this shady situation sees the light of day, or will Simon’s friend have a hot time this summer--beyond the shadow of a cloud?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: L. Bockhaus at (818) 340-8178 would like to find a bookshelf game called Challenge Bridge II , which was made by 3M years ago and has long since been discontinued. Please don’t pass on this deal, and don’t let Bockhaus wonder whether she may have gone a bridge too far. . . . Nancy at (818) 360-7611 is looking for the interior telescoping poles for a nylon umbrella tent purchased from the May Co. about 25 years ago and bearing the model number T-710; the tent measures 11x9 feet but has no brand name. Please help, so that Nancy won’t have to camp on your doorstep. . . . Doris at (818) 880-6033 would like to get her hands on a magnetic sponge mop , about eight inches wide with a wood handle dividing the two sides; Jewel T carried the item years ago. Please take Doris up on this attractive offer and make sure she gets swept off her feet.

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

Betty Ketchum, who was looking for Aunt Lydia’s cotton rug yarns in kitchen colors, need not start chewing the rug yet. A Reno reader suggests Herrschners Inc., Hoover Road, Stevens Point, Wis. 54481, (715) 341-0604.

Al Bennett, who was looking for collar extenders, may yet get out of a tight squeeze. Francis Wallace of Fountain Valley says the item is called Wonder Button, that it is made by Schafer Products of Coldwater, Mich., and that it is available in many men’s stores. Here are specific locations: Dorothy Wiese of Panorama City mentions Ivers department store in La Canada, and Mildred Reed of Los Angeles says House of Fabric yardage stores carry the item. Six readers wrote that Miles Kimball, 41 West 8th Ave., Oshkosh, Wis. 54901, sells a Wonder Button Collar Enlarger (No. 5876-8) for $3.39 per set of two. And Samuel Ginsburg says Foster-Trent, 2345 Boston Post Road, Department C-186, Larchmont, N.Y. 10538, sells stretch buttons for $1.49 per set of three.

Good news also for Mrs. E. Appert of Hollywood, who wanted to get her hands on knotted men’s ties that come with a clip for attaching to a collar; she won’t have far to go. Samuel Ginsburg of Los Angeles says the ties are available at the Thrifty Drug store at La Brea Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. But if Appert wants to take a drive, Shirley Myer of Rancho Palos Verdes suggests Long’s Drugs in Rolling Hills Estates. And if Appert wants to zip a little farther south--in more ways than one--the place to visit is Dewey’s men’s store, 8840 Valley View St., Buena Park. According to Helen Kolstad of Long Beach, they carry zip ties.

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.