During the 1930s, the tobacco company W.D and H.O.Wills gave away colourful and entertaining collectors ‘cigarette trade cards’ in packets of their cigarettes. ‘Household hints’ was issued several times, in slightly different editions from 1930 to 1939. Some of the ideas look antiquated and redundant but occasionally there are forgotten gems that are pertinent today. I am sharing this series as a historical glimpse into yesterday’s home maintenance and the occasional addition to solutions for the modern home.
5. Replacing loose castors
“Loose castors on chairs are troublesome and dangerous, and should be repaired without delay. The illustration on the left shows a method of repairing the castors which are attached to the chair by a central screw. The trouble here is usually caused by the the screw working loose and enlarging the hole. Make a new plug for the latter. a firmly glue it into position and reborn the hole. B. another type of castor, shown on the right hasa cup which fits around the leg. In this case, looseness is usually caused by a piece of wood splintering away from the leg.
To repair this, saw the break clean C roughly shape a new piece, glue firmly into position and finish off with a wood file or glass paper before refitting castor D.”
I love the ‘roughly shape a new piece’. It presumes that everyone has access to a saw, a wood file, some wood, a shed, some free time…. But is also shows that the expectation of the householder in the fifties was that they would have the aspiration to perform simple repairs. History and a few repair cafes have shown that some of these items have lasted another 50 years.
