Ed Goode

Ink stains were obviously a bit of a problem because most books of household hints include several methods of removing them. The advice to soak them in mustard, however improbable it sounds, was either pretty effective or a very persistent urban myth, because it appears at least twice in print.

A lot of old cookbooks and household guides have whole sections dedicated to recipes for sick people, and surprisingly enough, lemon albumen wasn’t the most bland or disgusting thing you could be fed. What To Do and How To Do It recommended this bran tea, which it says is

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