Put a Sock on It--and Stretch a Point

Lucile Flo of Mission Viejo is trying to find a source for some old-fashioned sock stretchers. We’ve published this request before but the only responses we had were from readers willing to part with their own sock stretchers. Can you help before we’re convinced that we’ve stretched things too far, or will Flo have to stay on her toes a while longer?

Alice S. Laidlaw of Ventura has left no page unturned in her search for gray-colored 75F Refill Pak pages for a No. 75 three-ring Magic Mount photo album, but no luck. Get the picture? Can you fulfill her wish, which will be no snap, or will the focus of her life change because of everybody’s negative attitude?

Marge Gomme of Manhattan Beach would like a local source for Maypo hot cereal, which she recently found in Wyoming; it is made by Standard Milling Division, Uhlman Co., Kansas City, Mo. Can you give Gomme something to chew on, or will she have to take a Cheyenne to a travel agent on this very cereous matter?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Ernest at (213) 651-4180 needs a Black Angus Petite electric broiler ; his old one, which measures 15x10x8, is wearing out, and that model is no longer being made. Please steer a replacement his way, so that Ernest can once again cook up a storm in his kitchen. . . . Mrs. Atherton at (213) 696-9863 needs a complete lock and key set for an old Larkin china cabinet. This is no lark, so please help and avoid a cabinet crisis in china.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items and for products no longer available in stores. And you must give us written permission to publish your telephone number, so that others may contact you directly.

Still more on mother-of-pearl chips: An Anaheim reader says everything on mother-of-pearl and abalone--as well as instructions for working them--is available from Elderly Instruments, 1100 N. Washington, P.O. Box 14210, Lansing, Mich. 48901, (517) 372-7890; that reader also says abalone dust is toxic and advises care. And Anthony Davis of Rainbow Creations, P.O. Box 55635, Sherman Oaks, Calif. 91413, (818) 995-0190, says these are gaming chips that were carved in Hong Kong many years ago and that he has several hundred for sale; he is a collector.

Dorothy Nelson of Garden Grove, who was looking for a makeup hood with zipper closure to protect her hair, need no longer think that she is over her head. Nine readers wrote that Miles Kimball, 41 West 8th St., Oshkosh, Wis. 54901, carries a zippered makeup hood on Page 45 of a recent catalogue (No. 0689-7 Beauty Mask, $3.29 plus $1.95 shipping); thanks to Beverly Herold, Ruth Neal, Lucia F. Bailey, Mrs. Walter Powell, Ruth Peterson, Mrs. George Oswald, Grace Hogan, Helen Stewart and Dorothy Nickerson. A closer mail-order source, according to owner Clara Smith, is He’s, 4219 W. Olive Ave., Suite 325, Burbank, Calif. 91505. Their catalogue carries a Beauty Cover for $5.

We also have several ingenious do-it-yourself suggestions, as long as Nelson does not turn up her nose at such advice. S. Disney of Rancho Mirage (a former model) and Marilyn Norton of Los Angeles suggest draping a scarf (Norton says to use silk) over the head and tying the ends under the chin. And Melba Graves of South Laguna slits a plastic vegetable bag (from the supermarket) up one long side and puts that over her hair; this can also be tied around the neck, she says. Pretty heady idea, yes?

Mimi Smyth of Del Mar, who was looking for a placebo cigarette (as was Annie Finkelstein of Woodland Hills), will soon be able to breathe easy. Dr. Bill Uriarte of Beverly Chiropractic Clinics, 8455 Beverly Blvd., Suite 600, Los Angeles, Calif. 90048, (213) 658-2858, sells E-Z Quit cigarette substitutes for $10. Another source, same price, is E-Z Quit Inc., P.O. Box 865, Tarzana, Calif. 91358; this comes from Michael Green of Los Angeles and Jack S. Charvo of Bakersfield. And Andy Weber of Los Angeles sent us a newspaper article concerning a cigarette named Favor, which is touted as an alternative to smoking, not as a stop-smoking device. It was developed and marketed by a San Antonio internist. It’s marketed in California but Weber listed no retail sources. Perhaps some readers can help with that.

Herb Hain cannot answer mail personally but will, space permitting, respond in this column to readers who need--or have--helpful information. Write (do not telephone) to You Can Help!, You section, the Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.