So Far, Search for Swim Cap Is All Wet

For a relative who is handicapped, Shirley Bleaman of North Hollywood needs a swim cap with a chin strap , but so far she has been unable to find one. Can you help Bleaman, who is really strapped for ideas and has been taking it on the chin, or will she just have to keep making waves until she gets into the swim of things?

Myrtle Walker of Los Angeles is looking for a TV timer that can be set for periods from 10 minutes to an hour; the one she’s had for years just wore out, and she doesn’t have remote-control attachments. Can you help Walker get the picture, or will her television habit soon be completely out of control?

Maria Melgar of Agoura Hills is waxing impatiently in her search for black , 18-inch taper candles with a base diameter of 1 inch; she would also like some black pillar candles with a 3-inch diameter and a height of 8, 10 and 12 inches. Can you help shed a ray of light on this obscure request or will Melgar’s flickering hopes just melt away?

Alice Jones of Arcadia would like to find some plastic clothespins with hooks on them, so that they can be hung from a shower curtain rod or other fixture. Can you pin down a source for Jones, or will she never be able to practice her hook shot in the shower?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Mr. Hill at (213) 466-9845 would like to obtain a Model 250 Smith-Corona electric typewriter in working condition; this particular model is at least 20 years old, he says. Please hunt for a machine and see to it that Mr. Hill’s pecking order can soon revert to type. . . . Jeanne at (805) 495-9725 is not trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes, but she really needs several skeins of both natural-white and light-gray wool yarn of Scheepjes Natuurwool , made by a Dutch company now out of business. Perhaps if we lamb-ast ewe enough, it might not be necessary for Jeanne to take the next sheep to Holland. . . . Ella Watson at (818) 282-2226 is looking for a print or serigraph of a Pege Hopper picture called “Lady With the Fan” or “Mele Kalikimaka,” showing a brown-eyed woman with a fan. Anyone who can come up with a copy will have made a fan for life.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items or 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.

Jeanette Huglin of Santa Barbara, who was looking for wine containers that look like clusters of grapes, may have to keep graping a while longer. David Warburton of Valencia referred us to the Cannery Wine Cellars in San Francisco. A call to that firm revealed that they no longer have the large bottle with the grapes, only very small bottles (with wine in them) for $5.95; the address is 2801 Leavenworth St., San Francisco, Calif. 94133. However, three readers said they have the bottles Huglin wants and would part with them. If Huglin, or anyone else, is interested, a stamped, self-addressed envelope to us may still start the juices flowing.

Ken Campbell of Harbor City, who was looking for a pamphlet that shows how to vary the knot in neckties, need not settle for a tie. S. Morton Shulman of Orange, Jane Lander of South Gate, Mary Carlson of San Bernardino, Michael Green of Los Angeles and David Wilensky of Grand Central Apparel in Hollywood all sent us various diagrams and illustrations for tying neckties; we have forwarded these to Campbell. If anyone else is also interested, just stick your neck out and send us a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Gloria Lee says she has enough 6-foot grape stakes, but for anyone else with a stake in that matter we have several sources. Robert Kolar and Kathe Pizzuti, both of Hacienda Heights, say that National Lumber carries the item. So does the Home Depot in the City of Industry. And Barbara Lepko says Heet’s Cedar Fences in Baldwin Park has the grape stakes in various sizes, in pine.

Three readers sent in a request for the one run mender we had available; the race was won by Irma Baker of Pasadena, whose letter reached us first.