100-Year-Old Life Hacks That Are Surprisingly Useful Today

George Santayana, a poet and a philosopher, says that people who do not remember the past will repeat it again. But now, we like to be different. We all do not search for some life trick to simplify our life in the early 1900s. On the contrary, the New York Public Library has actually made 100 ‘How to do it” in a digital form and the producers will put them in the cigarette boxes.

Cigarette manufacturers used to put the cards inside the boxes, in the early 20th century. And people used to collect them, everything from advertisements to celebrity pictures. The UK-founded tobacco company Gallaher cigarettes came to the idea to start using printed life hacks. Even though, cigarettes are not beneficial, we can without any doubt say that these cards for life tricks have been helpful in a lot of cases and have actually helped a lot of people.

So here we have selected some of the best and most practical life hacks that can still be used today.

List of 23 best 100-year-old life hacks that we can use today

People used to receive these photos of life tricks in the cigarette boxes, along with some short instructions, that we have also written for you here.

1. How to cut new bread into thin slices

This amazing trick will help you to learn how to cut new bread in thin slices even though it is a bit difficult to do that. Use hot water to plunge the knife and after hot wipe very fast. You will notice that the hot knife has the ability to cut soft, new bread in thin slices without any difficulty.

2. How to make a fire extinguisher

For this purpose you need to make a mixture of 2 quarts water, ½ a pound of sal-ammoniac and 1 pound of salt, and then use thin glass bottle to pour the mixture in, and fill them a quarter every bottle. In case of fire, you need to throw the bottles in the flames, and you can avert any serious outbreak.

3. How to judge the Weather

There is a way to discover what the weather will be like and it is the little cloud that is quite distant. So in case the cloud becomes bigger slowly, then it is an indication for a rainy, unsettled weather. And if the cloud becomes smaller, you will have a nice weather.

4. How to light a match in the wind

It is very difficult to light up a match in the wind but it is still possible to succeed if you just cut thin shavings onto the match in the direction of the striking end, like in the photo. When you light the match, these cut shavings catch fire all at one time, making the fire stronger and it gives better results.

5. How to boil cracked eggs

If you want to boil cracked eggs just like if they are undamaged, you just need to put in some vinegar in the water. When you do this, you will notice that nothing will boil out from the eggs.

6. How to take ink stains out of a handkerchief

It is possible and easy to eliminate the ink stains from a nice linen handkerchief which has been stained by accident. Immediately after this being stained with the ink, you need to soak it in some milk immediately. When you do this you will notice that after some time these stains are gone.

7. How to increase lung power

You need to stand elevated on the balls of the feet, and hold back with the head. After that inflate the lung by breathing in deeply, and slowly breathe out, making the chest to sink first and after that the lungs. Do this activity in the morning and in the afternoon.

8. How to make a simple gate latch

The gate is allowed to swing open by a loose gat latch of the ordinary shape. In the photo is shown a shape of a latch that does this. In case when it is screwed to a gate post, the latch is considered to swing in a pose to secure gate, as the screw pivot has beneath itself the greatest weight.

9. How to bandage an injured foot

Take a clear tower and put the injured foot to rest on operator’s knee. Start to bandage it in the way that is shown in the diagram below, as the bandage is wrapped over the back of the foot and round it in spiral way, and in the end it is fixed with a safety pi, right below the ankle, just like in the upper diagram.

10. How to save gas on the gas stove

You need one piece of sheet- iron sufficiently big to cover the top of the stove. In this case you will discover that sufficient heat could be diffused in it for an entire dinner to cook. When the sheet-iron is the hottest, then you need to place the sauce pan that requires the highest heat needs to be put over the burner.

11. How to med broken china

In order to deal with broken china and for it to be resistant in both cold and hot water, you need to heat common alum in an old iron spoon until it is melted, and after that use it on the broken piece. You need to hold the pieces together until they are completely set.

12. How to extract a splinter

It is quite painful to extract a splinter from the hand. The best way to do this is to take a bottle with wide mouth and pour hot water in it, just to the brim and then use it to press the area where the splinter is, very tightly using the bottle’s mouth. The bottle will make suction that will pull the skin and the splinter will be pulled by the steam.

13. How to revive cut flowers

If you want to revive the flowers that have been cut off and faded in the transit, all you need to do is just put the stems in some hot water, and leave them in it until the water cools down. The flowers will revive in this time. After that, cut off the stems of flower and put the flowers in cold water like you normally do.

14. How to test butter

In this photo you can see the best way to test butter. All you need to do is to rub some of the butter on a little paper and put the paper alight. The smell will become agreeable and daintly, if it is pure butter, and unpleasant tallow odor if there is a presence of Margarine.

15. How to treat sprains

You need to lift the affected joint and also cover it in cloths that are moist in cold water. The photo can show the way to maintain the cloth always soaked without the need to replace them with new ones. All you need to do is to just take a jug filled with water and place it higher than the injured limb and put one end of the cloth inside the water and the other end will remain wrapped around the joint. The water will spread all through the cloth. When the sprain begins to heal, you can also rub it with some oil or liniment.

16. How to clean oil paintings

There is highly effective method shown in the pictures. The painting must be cleaned from all the dust and after that you need to take a cut raw potato and rub it gently, and in the end wipe it out with a soft rag. You need to pare the dirty side of the potato in order to maintain the cleanness of the surface that is being used on the painting. In the end use some pine linseed oil and rub it on.

17. How to preserve valuable vases

When you take a proper precaution, the risk of having the vase knocked over is lowered. Put in some sand that will work as an extra weight, maintaining the vase in firm and upright position on the base. This is especially beneficial for the type of vases that have small bases and are top heavy.

18. How to clean bottles

In order to clean the inside of the bottles, you need to put in some sand and water inside it and shake nicely. This method is efficient in cleaning the inside perfectly, and after that you can wash the bottles and leave them to dry out.

19. How to clean real lace

In order to clean real lace you need to lay down the lace on some white or blue tissue paper which is then covered with some calcined magnesia powder. Use some more paper to cover it and put some weight in it for several days. When you take off the powder you will discover that the lace is very clean, and the soft and delicate tissues are not damaged.

20. How to kill a tree stump

In case a tree stump is not taken off the ground, it usually begins to sprout and has potent undergrowth outcomes. In order to hinder this, you need to bore holes in top of the stump, and a patch of bark cut from within and additional holes there. A solution of salt and solignum added in the holes will be absorbed in the tree stump and it will be eliminated.

21. How to prevent colors running

In order to the colors from the household cloths to start running and making stains on other thing when they are washed together, you just need to soak the colored things in a mixture of salt water. The mixture needs to have a gallon of water and a double handful of salt, and you need to leave the clothes in this mixture for about 24 hours.

22. How to make a good polish

You can prepare an amazing polish for floors, mirrors, pianos, pictures, etc., just by making a mixture of same measures of paraffin and vinegar in a bottle. Close and it store for use. You can also improve its odor by adding several drops of lavender oil, and it actually makes it twice more efficient in keeping flies away.

23. How to clean new boots

It can be very difficult to polish new boots. The efficient way is to first use ½ lemon to rub the boots and leave them to dry out, and after that they will be much easier to polish, even though you will sometimes again need to do this method with lemon.

There have been numerous new ways for the listed thing above, which are proven to be very efficient and innovate. But in case you do not have some of the needed products at the moment, these old life tricks will be just as useful.

Source: www.boredpanda.com