With the usual amount of salt

January 8, 2014 8:46 PM

The Circle of Useful Knowledge (single serving Tumblr) [via mefi projects]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering (9 comments total)

Excellent varnish for harness
Pulverize and put in a jug or bottle half a pound to a pound of gum shellac, cover with good alcohol and cork tightly. Put the mixture in a warm place. In about two days, if shaken frequently, the gum will be dissolved and ready for use.

Sir, I will take your word for it.
posted by figurant at 9:20 PM on January 8, 2014

I have used exactly that recipe to finish Douglas Fir cabinetry. It gives a nice dark orange shade after some years.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 9:31 PM on January 8, 2014

Reminds me of this:

Olive oil, to purify.--Put a piece of lead in the glass bottle that contains the oil, and expose to the sun; a quantity of cloudy matter will separate after a few days, then the refined oil may be decanted.

From The Art of Travel by Francis Galton, it's full of this sort of wacky advice.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 9:36 PM on January 8, 2014

Olive oil, to purify.--Put a piece of lead in the glass bottle that contains the oil, and expose to the sun; a quantity of cloudy matter will separate after a few days, then the refined oil may be decanted.

This must be for people who think they are too good to eat paint chips.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 2:01 AM on January 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

The University of St. Andrews Special Collections Library is doing a blog series called 52 Weeks of Historical How-Tos, in which they test out 19th century recipes and household hints like these.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:33 AM on January 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

Huh, so that's how you look a gift horse in the mouth.
posted by The Whelk at 6:10 AM on January 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'm amazed that whiskey was ever so cheap you'd make vinegar out of it.
posted by Mitheral at 6:40 AM on January 9, 2014

Read up on traditional American consumption rates re:whiskey. It's amazing anything got done at all.
posted by The Whelk at 6:54 AM on January 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

as far as "the usual amount of salt", etc. remember that this is from a time when anybody with a root cellar/shed/spare room would have been curing hams and bacon their whole lives, and sure as shit knew how much salt they already used.
posted by Jon_Evil at 7:51 AM on January 9, 2014