Container Fills Her Grape Expectations

Jeanette Huglin of Santa Barbara would like to find some individual wine containers (with stoppers) that are made of clear glass and look like a cluster of grapes. Can you help by putting a stop to her search, or will it be clear to Huglin that she must keep her desires bottled up a bit longer?

Norma Griffith of Ojai, who has short arms but wears large-size sweaters, is looking for someone to shorten a few sleeves. Off the cuff, can you come up with a source, or will Griffith have to keep sweating out these arms shortages?

Roberta Tarbox of Los Angeles is trying to replace a stocking run mender that she recently lost. Can you help without running this into the ground, or will Tarbox be in tor-mend because she doesn’t have a leg to stand on?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Jean at (805) 652-2205 would like to get a mitt on a mechanical-action steel bank featuring a pitcher and a catcher. Please don’t balk at this request, but make a hit with Jean by coming through in the clutch. . . . In order to make nine-egg sponge cakes, Marian at (619) 328-4955 needs a large bowl for her Model 10, 19-CJ Sunbeam Mixmaster , which has been discontinued for many years. Let’s hope that helping her will be a piece of cake; whatever you do, don’t lay an egg on this one, otherwise Marian will have to keep sponging off her neighbors. . . . Dalton at (818) 769-8861 needs a 10-inch round fluorescent bulb for a magnifying inspection lamp; 12-inch or 8-inch bulbs, which are quite common, will not do. Please inspect your supply and shed some light on the subject for Dalton.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items or 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 Pat Clancy of Fullerton, who was looking for Peloponnese Agoureleo extra virgin olive oil, it’s all Greek once more. Lee Perreault of Palm Springs says Mrs. Gooch’s Health Food Stores carry the product (at least their Northridge store does). And a San Diego reader writes that Trader Joe’s recently advertised something similar, Greek Spitiko extra virgin olive oil, at $3.49 for a one-liter bottle.

Andrew Craig of Claremont, who, along with several others, was interested in books about unusual place names, should soon be able to find his place; we have a number of sources. Kenneth Rockwell suggests the Bruman Map Library, located in Bunche Hall 253-A, UCLA (he works there); he also recommends “Scratch Ankle, USA: American Place Names and Their Derivation,” by Myron J. Quimby (A.S. Barnes & Co., New York, 1969). J. Johnson of Woodland Hills and Edward K. Conklin of Manhattan Beach both mention “Names on the Land” by George R. Stewart (Oxford University Press, 1970). Hal Curtis of Glendale says a visit to Geographia, 4000 Riverside Drive, Burbank, might be helpful; they specialize in map and guide books. Tom Militello of Rancho Palos Verdes says the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, 523 National Center, Reston, Va. 22092, will help (free of charge) anyone locate a place in the United States.

Edwin W. Coles of Studio City sent us a few photocopied pages from “The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States” by Henry Gannett. He says the book is available (for research) at the LDS (Mormon) Family History Center, 10741 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90024; it lists hundreds of unusual--and many conventional--names of towns. If it’s a question of finding individual names, Cosandra Buckner, a superintendent with the Post Office, suggests that Craig go through the National ZIP Code Directory.

M. V. Baker of Glendale sent us an extensive list (too long to publish here) of sources for place names, which, along with some other material, we will forward to Craig.