1/20/12

Around the House - Handyman tips from 1941


The American Magazine had a DIY column in which readers shared their tips for home improvement. Reading this column, it's amusing to note that, apparently, there was a housing shortage back in '41. That's adorable.

One other interesting note is the bit about waterproofing your awnings with a mixture of gasoline and paraffin. I imagine it worked, but I'd be surprised if your Helpful Hardware Man or Home Depot Drone would ever advise a customer to do this. In the process, you've got a pretty decent accelerant all over your garage, and even after the project is complete, a canvas (I think) awning soaked in wax would pretty much amount to a huge candle. At least they advise you to keep smokers away while you're working.

The illustrations in this article make for nice clip art. I've scanned them and contrasted them into clean black-and-whiteness for you, our beloved readers. The ultra-deco handyman guy at the head of the page deserved even more than mere jpegging, so he's also available as a vector file, for those of you who can make use of those. Blogger doesn't allow posting of direct file downloads in any vector formats, so email if you want it sent to you as an attchment. The EPS version is 318K and the AI  is 91k.

Rude Finger Graphic Gifts coming up in three, two, one...




Click for huge.


1 comments:

BakedSalmon said...

linseed oil, paraffin wax, turpentine, clear gasoline... there is nothing you can not do with those 4 at your disposal. I think mixing all 4 results in WD40, but I'm not positive.

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