How to do it

August 5, 2015 3:15 PM

How to make corks fit. How to adjust a door. How to extract a splinter. A surprisingly useful How to Do It series of mid-19th century cigarette trade cards, digitized by the New York Public Library.
posted by mudpuppie (26 comments total)

Definitely misread that first link as "how to make cocks fit", which seemed more appropriate to my brain given the headline.
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:39 PM on August 5, 2015 [4 favorites]

The funny thing is they suggest the same technique for fitting cocks as for corks.
posted by sexymofo at 3:55 PM on August 5, 2015 [4 favorites]

After the coming environmental apocalypse and our subsequent return to a pre / early industrial civilisation, I will ensure my value to the shattered remnants of humanity by demonstrating and teaching this one weird trick.
posted by Pinback at 4:02 PM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh man. These are great. It'd be cool to print them all out! Some of these are still applicable. I have to try that splinter technique.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:03 PM on August 5, 2015

There are apparently many uses for alum that I was heretofore unaware of.
posted by Dr. Twist at 4:20 PM on August 5, 2015 [3 favorites]

Oh man. The rest of the collection is amazing, too. Birds, Beauties, Battle Scenes, Beautiful Homes. And that's just the "Bs".
posted by notyou at 4:37 PM on August 5, 2015

Yes, but do they show you how to construct a box girder bridge?
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 4:51 PM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

I like how many of these do seem pretty useful, and then you get to "How to blow over a brick".
posted by rifflesby at 5:03 PM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

rifflesby: "bet you a pint you can't blow over a brick, but I can"
posted by idiopath at 5:10 PM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

So a damp bed "should not be slept in"? This was an issue for cigarette smokers in the 40s?
posted by monospace at 5:51 PM on August 5, 2015

Seriously, though, these seem so much more useful than most of today's "life hack" listicles.
posted by monospace at 5:55 PM on August 5, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm tempted to go out back and get a splinter just so I can test that remedy.
posted by Flashman at 6:03 PM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yay! I'm glad the folks of Metafilter are enjoying this (I work on the digital library side of NYPL in a group called NYPL Labs).

If you like this collection, there are many more wonderful, weird, and wild collections where that came from.

So many to point out, but just a few months ago we digitized 1,000+ fashion sketches from the 1950s and 1960s (and a nice blog post about connections to Mad Men). Another highlight is the complete run of what are called the Green Books, published from 1937 to 1967, "that listed hotels, restaurants, beauty salons, nightclubs, bars, gas stations, etc. where black travelers would be welcome. In an age of sundown towns, segregation, and lynching, the Green Book became an indispensable tool for safe navigation."
posted by Hadroed at 6:24 PM on August 5, 2015 [18 favorites]

Finally, a sure fire way to avoid the danger of detecting dampness in strange beds. Shudder.
posted by vorpal bunny at 6:33 PM on August 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

I like how many of these do seem pretty useful, and then you get to "How to blow over a brick".

Did anyone else think that the picture made it look like the dude was trying to inflate a dead bird?
posted by mr_roboto at 6:40 PM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

You are not alone, mr roboto.
posted by flaterik at 7:00 PM on August 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

Or if he's later going to regret trying to sucker guys in a bar with a trick that involves a brick?
posted by Flashman at 7:20 PM on August 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

1) Put the brick upright on top of a bag.
2) Blow into the bag to inflate it, knocking the brick over.
3) Collect bet money. Maybe.
posted by wanderingmind at 7:53 PM on August 5, 2015

Many of these ideas (including the splinter technique) made it into the 1973 Mother Earth News Almanac!
posted by Allez at 7:54 PM on August 5, 2015

Re: damp beds

Many houses in my neighborhood have sleeping porches, as they were built around 1910. If you're not familiar, it was thought that sleeping indoors was "unwholesome" so the obvious fix was to sleep outside. Security was provided by having either a screen room or completely open porch on the second floor. I can see how dampness might be an issue in such a setup.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 8:01 PM on August 5, 2015

There are apparently many uses for alum that I was heretofore unaware of.
posted by Dr. Twist at 7:20 PM on August 5

Indeed. I ran across that one last night or the night before in my feed and finally understood why that well on my folks' property ever got drilled in the first place (we had a hand pump, I thought it was the most awesome thing ever but my parents never primed it because it was too muddy.)
posted by mcrandello at 1:20 AM on August 6, 2015

After rereading that I guess the usage to clear wells is discussed in one of the links from the comments.
posted by mcrandello at 1:21 AM on August 6, 2015

I will never leave home again without a hand mirror to test strange beds for dampness.

I passed a very pleasant hour looking at those cards. Thank you submitter.
posted by james33 at 2:44 AM on August 6, 2015

I regret having dedicated my collecting days to baseball cards. I know a few stats, and very little about life.
posted by motownie at 3:57 PM on August 7, 2015

Seems all the links at the top now give this message:

The page you were looking for doesn't exist.
posted by SlyBevel at 9:18 PM on August 7, 2015 [1 favorite]

Seems all the links at the top now give this message:

The page you were looking for doesn't exist.

It's odd -- searching the collection still turns up the thumbnail-sized results, but clicking on the result gives the error message. The final link still shows the full collection in thumbnails, though.
posted by jaguar at 9:32 PM on August 8, 2015