Hopes for Mom’s Pin Rely on Re-Foiler

Rosanna Schmidgall of Alhambra needs someone to re-foil a rhinestone pin that belonged to her mother, but she has been told that re-foiling is a lost art that nobody practices anymore. Can you help by pinpointing a source before Schmidgall is even more on pins and needles, or will she feel she’s up against a stone wall after having been foiled once again?

For more than five years, Chuck Scroggins of Brawley has had his eyes on wire-rim, glass-lens flip-on sunglasses , but his search has led him only down blind alleys. Can you help brighten his day before his eyes glass over, or will he, without the shadow of a doubt, always see the light?

Lise Laubscher, who lives in a neighborhood populated by stray cats, is depressed because she’s unable to keep the cats away from her small white car , which is constantly covered with cat fur and muddy paw prints. Even a car cover didn’t do much good. Can you help improve Laubscher’s ratty state of mind, or will she continue feline low because there’s absolutely no purr-fect way to avoid a small cat-astrophe?

Norma Bodey of Westchester needs someone to re-lacquer a 50-year-old rocking chair that has begun to peel. Can you help sway a source in her neighborhood, or will she have to go on a sit-down strike to keep from going off her rocker?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Jean at (714) 494-5720 is trying to locate a discontinued dress pattern for a family of six-inch dolls (father, mother and two children); please be a doll and see to it that the clothes are soon in Jean’s dresser. . . . In order to finish a project, Elaine at (213) 866-7144 is yearning for some antique-gold jute macrame yarn , which evidently is no longer available. Please help before Elaine becomes too crochety to even be needled. . . . Sidney at (818) 702-0309 is after some ventilated automobile-seat cushions formerly made by Rubber Maid. Please put his mind to rest and get him off our back before he airs his complaint again.

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

Jeanne Balkovic of West Los Angeles, who was after old-fashioned wooden clothespins for baking Christmas cookies, will soon be able to get a start on this year’s holiday baking. A source very close to her, according to Virginia Dougherty of Westchester, is Mad Hatter, 12306 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista. Helen Liddell of Industry mentions Grand Palace Antiques, 648 Shopping Lane, Covina. We also have some mail-order firms. Lois Jenks of Los Angeles says the clothespins are available from Standard Doll Co., 28-83 31st St., Long Island City, N.Y. 11105. And Mary Langdon of Van Nuys has two names: the Vermont Country Store, P.O. Box 3000, Manchester Center, Vt. 05255, and Unique Merchandise Mart, Hanover, Pa. 17333. Then we heard from about half a dozen readers who have some of these pins and, in a pin-ch, might be willing to part with them. Don’t pin us down on details; just send a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Sam Fuentes, who was looking for Freeze Sleeves to keep beverages cold, may have to keep his cool a bit longer. Florence Downey of Venice says the distributor is Southwest Foam Molding, P.O. Box 448, Keller, Tex. 76248.

We now have a local source for Mary L. Petty, who was looking for extra-wide dress and work shoes for her children. Jackie Milman of Tarzana and Mrs. E. Sens of Newhall both suggest Chic Wide Shoes, 18768 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana (and other Southern California locations). Sens also mentioned a mail-order firm: Hill Brothers, 99 9th St., Lynchburg, Va. 24504-1466.

For the many readers trying to complete discontinued china patterns, we have a nearby source. Dirck Meengs, P.O. Box 6066, Thousand Oaks, Calif. 91359, (805) 495-4378, says he specializes in Castleton, Flintridge, Franciscan, Minton, Royal Worcester and Spode replacements.

Herb Hain cannot answer mail personally but will, space permitting, respond in this column to readers who need--or have--helpful information. Write (do not telephone) to You Can Help!, You section, the Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.