Bet You Didn’t Know This! (Or Did You?) by Pam Crooks

I’d like to think I’m an observant person, but after preparing for this blog, I’m more clueless than I ever realized.  Some things I see, I just don’t question.  Things that are just THERE, and they go over my head in importance.

Here’s a few:

The little hole in the side of a pen.

Most of us grew up with Bic pens, right?  I used to buy them in 10-packs for the girls.  Of course, I saw the hole, but I never realized without it, the pen would be completely airtight, which would prevent the ink from flowing to the tip, and you couldn’t write.  Also, in really low pressure areas like planes, the pen could explode, spraying ink everywhere.

The hole in the cap of a pen.

Without it, air gets trapped in the cap, creating pressure that will push ink out of the tip.  But more importantly, if someone accidentally swallowed the cap (who among us haven’t chewed on that cap while doing schoolwork?) the hole will help you breathe until it can be surgically removed.  Who knew?

 

 

 

The circle on milk jugs.

 

Since milk is filled to the very brim (customers want absolutely full cartons, you know), in case the jug is dropped, the inverted circle (or a similar design) will expand to prevent bursting.  Also, if you leave the milk in the ‘fridge too long, it will build up gas and expand.  That circle will help there, too.  Ditto when freezing milk, although I always remove about 1/2 cup of milk to allow for plenty of expanding.

The hole in airplane windows.

Have you ever noticed one?  I never have!  But my husband has, and he knew that it is meant to allow air to flow into the plane and regulate pressure.

Arrow on the gas gauge in your car.

Another one I never knew.  Heck, I never even noticed that arrow, at least not enough to question why it was there.  But starting in 2010, all cars were required to have this arrow, which indicates which side the gas tank is located.  Now isn’t that handy?  Especially if you’re driving a rental car or are in long lines waiting to get gas.  Much easier (and less embarrassing) to get on the correct side to fill up the tank!

Why men’s buttons are on the opposite side of women’s.

While buttons have been around since the Middle Ages, they weren’t produced en masse until the industrial age in the late 1800s.  Before then, mostly the wealthy had buttons, and they had maids who dressed them up in those buttons.  So, for the ease of the maids, the buttons were put on the left, but since men mostly dressed themselves, they were put on the right side.  Also, by having the buttons on that side, it was beneficial as men removed their swords during war.  (Okay, I admit – I don’t get that part.)

Tabs on foil or plastic wrap.

I’ve been a housewife for a long, long time, and I never knew this!  In fact, I had to leave my office and check out my foil, wax paper, and cling wrap, and sure enough, the perforated tabs were there, on both ends of each box.  But they are so much a part of the design, and the perforations were hard to see, I’d always missed them.  You can bet I’ll remember now, and they will be a big help in keeping the rolls in their box!

Let’s test YOUR knowledge, okay?  See if you know these handy tips, and I’ll post the answers tonight!  (Please, no Googling!)

1. What is the purpose of the little hole in padlocks?

 

2. Why are headrests detachable?

 

3. What is the purpose of the can’s tab?

 

4. Why does a tube of toothpaste have these colored blocks at the end?

 

5. Why do some garments come with little swatches of fabric?

 

Be sure to check back tonight, and I’ll tell you why!

Home Remedies

I’ve had a bit of time this week. Just as I was getting over a bad cold, I fell down, and as many of you know, after a certain age, you don’t bounce like you used to. Long story short, I ended up with a badly sprained ankle. (Imagine a purple and blue ankle at least twice the size of a normal ankle.)

When I got home with my rapidly swelling ankle, I looked up what I was supposed to do to treat it and came up with RICERest, Ice Compression and Elevation. I ended up doing RIE, because I didn’t have an Ace bandage for the C component.

Thankfully, I have lots of ice, but I started thinking about how people treated sprains and other maladies before ice was readily available. I discovered that if I sprained my ankle in the 19th century, I should take mud from a mud dauber nest, mix it with vinegar, place the mixture on my sprain and cover it with a stocking.

Here’s the thing–I do have remnant mud dauber nests on my house, but I couldn’t bring myself to try this. Why ruin a good nest when I have ice? But there was probably some science behind this cure, as there was behind a lot of 19th century medicine that did not involve superstitions such as tying knots in dishrags and burying them at midnight (my aunt’s cure for warts). I became curious and looked up a few more cures for common maladies, which I will list below:

Sore throat–rub outside of throat with a mixture of kerosene and butter.

Cuts–apply a spider web. Also, you can treat a cut by packing it with axle grease.

Rashes-treat with urine (I thought this was fascinating because urine is a form of acid which would burn like crazy. Ouch.)

Earache–blow tobacco smoke in the ear canal

Pneumonia–treat with a poultice of tansy weed

Dandruff–mix sulfur with water and apply to head daily

Lice–wash your head with kerosene

Poison ivy–treat with a paste of Fels Naptha soap. (I still use this stuff for laundry. It’s great.)

Bee sting–mix honey and mud from a mud dauber’s nest. (As a kid we used a paste of baking soda and water.)

Burns–put fresh calf manure in a flour sack and cover the burn for 24 hours.

There are so many more but I’ll leave you with these and ask what are some home remedies that you’ve heard of? Or used? I still put soda and water paste on my bee stings, but having read this, I may try honey and mud dauber nest the nest time I have a bad bee encounter.