Ed Goode

Castor oil was one of those things that was supposed to be good for just about everything. Household Hints says it should be used when “irritating substances, such as undigested food, foreign bodies, and micro-organisms remain in the intestinal tract”. The Modern Household Encyclopedia says that it “imparts a toned

The Modern Household Encyclopedia includes this remedy for chloroform poisoning by inhalation: If inhaled, give fresh air and keep the head down; massage in heart region; apply external heat. Artificial respiration may be needed. Call a physician as strychnine may be needed. It also includes the following about strychnine poisoning:

Presumably, if you had a house cow, figuring out what to do with all the extra milk was a real issue. There’s only so much milk you can use for drinking, cooking with, making into butter, and using around the house. Once you’ve exhausted all of those avenues,

This was the only recipe for milk and citrus that I could find that didn’t include straining, but if the combination of flavours appeals but the chunkiness doesn’t, you could try this recipe for lemon whey from the CWA Cookery Book, Tenth Edition: 1 lemon, 1 cup new

Watkins Household Hints is the only book I have found that suggested filling your car with dry ice to stay cool on a road trip. It did include this advice as well, under the heading “Dry Ice – Important”, which might have made people think twice: Do not touch with hands.

I have several books of household hints that were published by kerosene companies (Polly Pennant’s Blue Book of Household Hints boldly claims in the introduction that Shell have developed a pleasant smelling kerosene), but none of them mention fires or fire extinguishers anywhere. Fortunately, other books have got that

You can never have too much ammonia around the house. Not only is it useful to keep your stove polish sticking, the CWA Cookery Book, Tenth Edition includes it in a number of soap and cleaner recipes, as well as this recipe for bath salts so you can enjoy a

The thing about these mayonnaise cups is that they are actually kind of delicious. They are tastier than they have any business being, but they are also confusing. How are you supposed to serve them? Probably as part of a platter of appetisers, and The Hostess Cookbook has a few

Even going back to the 40s and 50s, most books of household hints will suggest using an actual fly spray to kill flies. The Laurel Recipe Book and Household Guide recommended one called Flit (made by Laurel), which “contains DDT and Pyrethrum and is the most deadly of all insecticides,

No book of household hints would be complete without a lot of advice on stain removal. Some of the advice is reasonably universal, and then there is some that is a bit more idiosyncratic. Although kerosene was a popular choice of cleaner, if you want something slightly less inflammable, the