Old DIY books

July 5, 2007 2:18 PM

Does anyone have suggestions for old DIY or how-to books? I'm thinking 1950s or older.

I was watching a recent Mythbusters about vodka myths, and was amazed to see some of the various applications one could use vodka for (mouth wash, foot odor bath, etc.). I imagine that at some point in time, there may have been a book that collected these archaic do-it-yourself gems... or at least I'd hope that's the case.

Do you know of any old books that collect little DIY tips and such? I'm interested in older, more functional tips rather than the newer types (i.e. how to reformat your hard drive, life hacks, etc.). Thanks!

posted by (bb|[^b]{2}) to grab bag (9 comments total)

The two things that came to mind are old Popular Mechanics magazines and just about anything put out by Lindsay Publishing.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:30 PM on July 5, 2007

Popular Mechanics.
I once found a bunch of the books published in the 1950s (each collections of articles from the magazine), and they were great. I gave a friend one that had articles about making your own arc-welding setup in your basement. He'd done something similar as a child, and was quite amused.
posted by alms at 2:51 PM on July 5, 2007

Do you know about the Foxfire books? A whole series.
posted by salvia at 3:02 PM on July 5, 2007

And in the comment section of those books someone recommended this book, which looks pretty great, too -- The Encyclopedia of Country Living.
posted by salvia at 3:08 PM on July 5, 2007

When I was little my dad had a wonderful antique book called "Country Wines." It was a folk history of winemaking using many different fruits & vegetables, and it included recipes. One that always struck my fancy was where you suspend a melon stuffed with raw sugar from the ceiling. The sugar and the juice ferments and drips into a tub. It also talked about the way priests railed in pulpits against the introduction of tea into England.

Darned if I can remember who it was by though.
posted by media_itoku at 5:33 PM on July 5, 2007

Some of A. Neely Hall's children's crafts books (from the 1910s) are available on Google Books.
posted by RogerB at 5:46 PM on July 5, 2007

Our pal from This Old Crack House has a cool book from 1909 called Household Discoveries.

We have one from 1916 called Twenty Lessons in Domestic Science that is also pretty nifty.
posted by jeanmari at 7:01 PM on July 5, 2007

Haha, (bb|[^b]{2}) , I finally figured out your name! Outrageous fortune, indeed.
posted by Afroblanco at 9:41 PM on July 5, 2007

The American Boys Handy Book. It's geared to kids, but it's endlessly fascinating.
posted by OmieWise at 4:41 AM on July 6, 2007