She’ll Put Her Foot Down to Find a Particular Boot

For years, Elisa Hirsch of Monrovia has been searching for a pair of fashionable full-cut women’s boots in Size 10 ; she claims that the European-style boots generally available are not cut full enough. Can you be on your toes and help Hirsch, or will she have to do an aboot-face and leg it over to Europe?

Lori Gaskin, who lives near San Bernardino, is all ears for the name of someone who will repair her beloved cuckoo clock. Can you help by giving her the works, or will she be convinced that the whole thing is for the birds?

Because her entire family watches movies together, Colleen O’Brien of Rolling Hills Estates would like to obtain the same edited versions of films that are shown on airlines. Can you help with a few shortcuts, or will O’Brien, as the world champion frequent flyer, really end up on Cloud 9?

N. Reuben of Los Angeles is looking for someone who can do invisible darning on cashmere sweaters. Can you help with a nimble thimble, or will Reuben feel that the wool has been pulled over her eyes because nobody gives a darn?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Pat at (818) 789-1106 would like to get her fingers on some Enhance shampoo by Johnson & Son, which is no longer distributed on the West Coast. Please help, so that Pat can stop tearing her hair out. . . . Esther at (213) 803-6328 needs to replace a 30-inch-wide built-in electric Westinghouse range , which is no longer being manufactured; any other make or model will do, she says. Please see to it that things start to cook again in Esther’s range. . . . For a friend with poor sight, Rose at (213)661-1663 would like to get her fingers on a Uco automatic needle threader , made in Germany and no longer available in stores. Please stop giving Rose the needle; give her the eye instead.

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.

For Lois Montgomery of Hemet, who was looking for some plastic starch, we have only a sliver of help. A reader from the City of Industry suggests Vano, made by Purex; according to our reader, the product works very well.

Let’s hope that Muriel Dandy of Bakersfield, who wanted some Static Control to keep the electricity out of her hair, can control herself awhile longer. A reader tells us that the item is no longer being manufactured but she found an Alberto-Culver product called Static Guard that serves the same purpose.

Laurie Killian of La Habra, who was looking for Fluffo shortening, need not feel shortchanged because the product has been discontinued, although some small stores may still have a few cans. However, Mrs. K. Hamilton of Rancho Palos Verdes and a Ralph’s Grocery employee told us that a similar item is available at Ralph’s, under the name of Ralph’s Shortening.

Fortunately, Eleanor Gibbel of Beverly Hills, who was needling us about a place that does custom macrame work, is not at the end of her rope. Marilyn Alter of the Knot Garden, 15030 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 986-6642, writes that her shop has been doing custom macrame for 15 years. And Mary Langdon of Van Nuys gave us a list of places in the Beverly Hills area Gibbel might wish to check out: Jabberwock, 11325 Santa Monica Blvd., (213) 478-9407; Macramenia & Craft, 10893 W. Pico Blvd., (213) 474-5114; Ingenuity, 3001 Main St., Santa Monica, (213) 392-8107, and Three Black Sheep, 3115 Washington Blvd., Marina del Rey, (213) 823-4107.

For Bill Umhofer of Hollywood, who wants potato bread, we have something to chew on. Thomas Liautaud of the California Medical Pharmacy, 2201 Temple St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90026, (213) 413-2343, says they carry potato bread, potato pasta and potato wafers (all wheat free). R. McLean of Long Beach suggests Tree for Life, 3580 N. Pasadena Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90031. Nancy Primeaux of Long Beach says Herb’s Black Forest Bakery, 14346 Brookhurst, Garden Grove, (714) 531-3924, sells delicious potato bread. And L. Gilbert of Los Angeles says that L.K.S. Products, Dublin, Calif. 94568, distributes the Harvest Day potato bread.

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.