Reader Has Hair-Raising Dilemma

Joan Blackman of Malibu can no longer find her favorite hairbrush anyplace-- Model LC 20 ; it’s made by G. B. Kent & Sons in England and is great for her very fine hair. Can you help without giving Joan the brushoff, or will it be very difficult for her to make waves without making a bald statement at the same time?

For her husband, Eleanor McKee of Van Nuys would like to obtain some towels made of white cotton huck fabric ; they are also called “barber towels.” Unfortunately, she can locate neither the towels nor the fabric. Can you help McKee save face in this instance, or will her husband wonder whether he’s all wet because the towels are rubbing him the wrong way?

S. Nicholls of Yucca Valley is wondering where she can find sugar-cured ham --not smoked and not honey-baked. Can you help Nicholls without causing her to buy a pig in the poke, or will life never again be sweet until she starts settling for ham-burgers?

A year ago somewhere, Ruth Barnes of Banning saw a clear Lucite trunk with brass fittings; it was about the height of a coffee table ; now that she wants one, she can’t find it any place. Can you help truncate her search by coming up with a source or two, or should it become clear to Barnes that further hope will be the absolute height of futility?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: For an older person, Ted at (818) 576-0422 would like to find a radio-phonograph combination with auto turntable , not one that has cassette or CD capability; please see to it that the music goes round and round again for Ted’s friend. . . . Randye at (818) 705-6574 has an elderly neighbor whose favorite fragrance is Hypnotique , long ago discontinued by Max Factor. Please do something before Randye’s neighbor is found guilty of a fragrant miscarriage of justice simply because she had no scents. . . . Donna at (619) 673-9375 wants to find the Care Bear stuffed animals made at one time by Kenner ; obviously she can’t bear to be without them. So would some kind person out there bare his or her soul and show Donna that we care. . . . Chris at (805) 581-4367 is looking for a book called “Louisa” by Catherine Moorhouse, published in 1983 by Dell and now out of print. Please see to it that Chris gets a good read on this problem.

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 others may contact you directly.

Carole Kretschmar of Pacific Palisades, who wanted a battery-operated night light that can be attached to a wall, need not be kept in the dark much longer. Mark Samuel of Chatsworth sent us pages from two catalogues that feature such a light: Lillian Vernon, 510 S. Fulton Ave., Mt. Vernon, N.Y. 10550-5067, sells a three-way cordless closet light (982641) that can be screwed into a wall, for $9.98; Taylor Gifts, 355 E. Conestoga Road, P.O. Box 206, Wayne, Pa. 19087-0206, has a cordless stick-up light that is attached with Velcro; it comes in various colors, sizes and materials and costs from $6.98 to $19.98. And if Kretschmar wants to make it easy--or perhaps difficult--for herself, Sandra Zarcades of Rancho Santa Fe suggests suspending a flat-shaped flashlight from a coat hanger or making a frame of wood or cardboard for it.

Helen Sheely of Temple City, who wanted an Orthopod exercise system for her bad back, will soon be able to get off our back. Carolee Monroe of Claremont writes that the Orthopod system is available from Le Roy Perry DC, 3283 Motor Ave., Los Angeles; the telephone number is (213) 559-6900. Monroe adds that Perry’s International Sports Medicine Institute has many devices for back problems and similar ailments. In addition, a Costa Mesa reader is willing to part with an Orthopod system; the information has been forwarded to Sheely.