This Mirror Image Gives a Clearer View

Thelma Kok of North Hollywood has her sights set on a mirror that is attached to the wall above a regular mirror and enables people to see the backs of their heads. Can you help Kok attain a different perspective on life, or will she, for her part, have to develop true hindsight to see what’s going on behind her back?

Shirley Prothero of San Clemente would like to get her hands on a Rolex-type recipe file with plastic pockets that will hold 3x5 recipe cards. Can you help Prothero see what’s cooking before she goes into a stew, or will she never know which way the cookie is supposed to crumble?

Weather Watch

Libbie Barash of Los Angeles needs to find someone who can repair two Hana humidifier/air cleaners. Can you help Barash maintain her cool, especially in this weather, or will she learn that any talk about coming clean is just a lot of hot air?

P. Wong of Cerritos is unable to find a small washing machine, about 14x14x14 inches, that can be placed on top of a table. Can you help Wong complete his laundry list, or will the agitation make it impossible for him to air his dirty linen in public?

For Helen Bogue of Ventura, who wanted an electric tea kettle with a shut-off switch, we have several hot tips. F. Alan Crump says his Tudor House in Santa Barbara (15 E. De la Guerra, in El Paseo Patio), carries such an electric tea kettle. This kettle is made by Russell Hobbs of England and costs about $60; it is also available at the Home Improvement Center in Santa Barbara (this word from Rita Shaw); Tudor House in Santa Monica (from Nichole Greenup); Crown Hardware in Newport Beach (from Bernice Baldock), and Fedco, Broadway and Robinson’s (from Audrey Gore). Eileen Howard says Brookstone stores carry such a tea kettle.

May M. Lewis says Williams-Sonoma will mail-order the kettle from P.O. Box 7456, San Francisco, Calif. 94120-7456. (Their retail stores may also carry it.) A mail-order source for the less-expensive Bouillaire Electrique kettle, according to Ann Pavelich, is Toasters Inc., 815 Tecumseh, Point Clair, Quebec, Canada H934B1. Helen Holmquist says to contact the First Congregational Church Thrift Shop, 537 S. Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles. And a Long Beach reader says she has a new Hobbs kettle she no longer needs; anyone interested should give us a whistle with a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Caps With Straps

Shirley Bleaman of North Hollywood, who wanted a swim cap with a chin strap for a relative, is delighted with the three she received since we published her request. For anyone else with a similar need, we have a deluge of sources. The Vermont Country Store, P.O. Box 3000, Manchester Center, Vt. 05255-3000, sells the caps at $9.90 for two, according to 23 readers.

Another mail-order source is Fontenelle’s, P.O. Box 3303, Long Beach, Calif. 90803, phone (213) 438-0648; the price is $5.95 plus tax. But many local chains also carry the item. Among them are: Cornet (Elaine Drew and Betty Neely); Long’s (Emma Pepe); Big 5 (Sondra Press); Osco Drugs (Violette Czukor); Oshman’s (Betty Hochner and D. Fisher); Thrifty’s (Ida Hassan); Clark’s Drugs (Mrs. Victor Holt), and Best Buy Drugs (Elizabeth Burns).

Other places that carry swim caps with straps are: The Glendale YWCA Swim Office (Dorothy Gill); Bay Pharmacy in Pacific Palisades (Mary Jane Bloom); and Holly Hills Pharmacy, Hollywood (J.N.). And if anyone really wants to do some up-creek swimming, Kristy Vohs says Winks Swim Country in Concord, Calif., had the caps.

For Maria Melgar of Agoura Hills, who was looking for black 18-inch taper candles, we have no sources, but readers might shed some light on her problem.