Really, where did we turn to for advice before Google? For most of human history, you couldn't type a problem into a search engine and get a list of answers.

In the days before the internet, household tips weren't as easy to come by and were often passed down through the generations. And that's where Manchester Evening News readers came in.

A fascinating M.E.N publication from the 1950s, in which readers offer all manner of handy hints, has recently been unearthed. While helping a relative with a clear-out at her house, Lynette Cawthral said she found the "rather marvellous" 36-page booklet that's full of handy hints and life hacks.

The booklet contains a myriad of long-forgotten pearls of wisdom that could come in handy around the house. All the tips were submitted by readers, and offer an insight into how people tackled problems around the home in austere post-war Manchester.

Maybe you want to know how to break in a new pair of shoes, whiten your teeth, or remove blood stains...our readers had the solution to all these problems many years ago. While some of the handy hints might seem a bit daft or outdated, others have the whiff of genius about them.

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Below we've listed some of the more relevant (or bizarre) hints and tips that might help you out today. But if you've discovered any life hacks of your own, or maybe there are some handy hints have passed down through your family, let us know in the comments.

Food, cooking and eating

Fluffy batter

For a good fish or pancake batter just add a dessertspoonful of malt vinegar and you will see how much lighter it becomes.

(Mrs) M. Eyles. Salford.

Fluffy mash

Potatoes mashed with cold milk look glazed and un-appetising. To prevent this, warm the milk before adding it. This makes the potatoes nice and fluffy.

(Mrs) Florence Dalziel. Chorlton-cum-Hardy.

Keep your milk cool in a pair of old socks

Use the sock treatment for keeping milk icy cold during the hot weather. Wet a pair of socks, wool preferably. Put the legs over the bottle of milk, and dangle the toes in a basin of cold water. You will be surprised how this keeps the milk cold even on the warmest day.

(Mrs) Isabel Ward. Levenshulme.

Hot pan handle

When cooking with a frying-pan, etc., the handle often becomes too hot to hold. In order to prevent this, first cover the handle with insulating tape and fix firmly over it a bicycle handlebar rubber grip. The rubber remains cool, being no bother to handle.

Scalded. Stretford

Cut onions without crying

To prevent tears when peeling onions, put a couple of matchsticks in the mouth, holding them between the teeth (with the phosphorus end pointing out).

(Miss) C. Cruikshank, aged 13. Timperley.

Clothes

Remove grease stains

To remove grease stains on fabric, sprinkle a good coating of talcum powder over each stain. Leave it on for about 10 minutes and then cover it with brown paper. Press this with a not-too-hot iron and brush off the surplus powder and all the stains will have gone. This method also removes grease stains from wallpaper.

(Mrs) A. Dutson. 54, Parsonage Street, Bury.

Rejuvenate a suede jacket

Here is a top tip to interest all suede jacket owners. If your jacket has lost its sheen or gone shiny, hang it in front of a boiling kettle so that the steam penetrates the suede. Then take a soft brush and brush the jacket gently. You will find that your jacket comes up like new.

(Miss) S. Bethell. Stockport.

Shoe-shine, with a banana skin

To give brown leather shoes and boots and extra shine, rub them with the inside of a banana skin before polishing them in the usual way. Do the same for black leather by adding a few drops of orange juice to the polish.

(Mrs) E. Wolstencroft. Alkrington.

A pinch of salt works wonders!

Keep that packet of salt handy, it is useful for:

• Keeping flowers fresh. Add salt to the water and your blooms will last longer.
• Beating eggs quickly. Add a pinch of salt to them.
• Taking ink out of white cottons. Make a paste with some lemon juice and salt and leave it on the stain for some time before washing.
• Removing wine from table linen. Cover the stain with wet salt. Leave for one hour, then wash out in the ordinary way.

Ann Barker. Stockport.

Breaking in new shoes

When buying new leather shoes do not suffer the discomfort of breaking them in. Slip your bare feet in the shoes and put them in a bowl of hot water, covering them completely for 10 minutes.

After this keep them on another 10 minutes, walking on paper or a towel so as not to wet the floor. Then take them off and stuff them with newspaper and leave them to dry.

(Mrs) Shaffer. Southport.

Non-slip shoes

To those ladies who have difficulty keeping their sling-back shoes in place, I can pass on a really helpful tip. On the back of each hell-strap, stick a small piece of foam draught excluder and press into place. This will grip without tearing your nylons. This is equally effective for keeping on slipping court shoes and dancing pumps.

(Miss) Ann Schofield. West Didsbury.

Cleaning

Ball-point pen stains

A clean cloth dipped in ordinary eucalyptus oil will immediately remove ball point ink stains from clothing, upholstery, etc, (not leather or plastic). Hang the coat or cloth in the air for a few minutes and it will soon remove the smell of eucalyptus.

(Mrs) M N Pratt. Mossley.

Whiter teeth

To make teeth look white, rub them briskly with a paste made of bicarbonate of soda well moistened with a lemon squeeze. The cleaning qualities of the soda combined with the lemon acid will remove discolouring and make the teeth look beautifully white.*

M Berry. Victoria Park.

Clothing stains

If when washing clothes you by accident, put a coloured article next to a white one, thus staining it, the stain can easily be removed by this method. Spread a thin layer of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) over the stain and boil for a few minutes, the stain will completely disappear.

(Mrs) D Mlynarz. Rusholme.

Remove scratches from wood

To remove scratches from most polished woods, crack either a walnut or a brazil nut and rub the kernel gently over the mark, and watch it disappear. Wipe over with a soft duster to remove any surplus oil.

J Howarth. Urmston.

Dog hairs

I find that an old spongy-soled slipper gets dog hairs off my carpet easier then anything. I discovered this quite by accident - when talking to a friend of mine I started rubbing the dog hairs up with my shoes!

(Mrs) J Collins. Altrincham.

Repairs and household improvements

Broken suitcase handle

If the handle of your suitcase breaks, buy a dog collar and slip it through the loops. It can be adjusted to the required length.

(Mrs) E Doyle. Cheadle.

Extra door security

Bolts should be placed diagonally on a door to give greater security than the ordinary method. A bolt placed this way required 50 percent more pressure to force open than one placed horizontally.

A Hardman. Stretford.

Makeshift wall-plug

How often do you find yourself without a wall-plug when that nail, screw, or hook needs fixing or re-fixing in a plaster wall? Take a pencil, cut a piece off it, split the piece and extract the lead. Use the two halves as you would a plug and if first a spot of glue is put in the hole, the fixture will hold nearly anything.

Wm L. Worsley, Stockport.

Wall scratches

To stop couches and three-piece suites rubbing against the wall, I have fixed rubber doorstops to the protruding parts of the chairs and couch. I now have no more rubbed walls.

(Mrs) Barnett. Prestwich.

Broken earrings

Your earrings have parted, sad, but not final. A little transparent nail varnish (left to dry) will do the trick. During the last war I found this tip a winner.

(Mrs) Maud Tudor. Prestwich.

Boiled rice is as tough as any glue

You can mend broken ornaments and china by making a paste of ground rice boiled in water until it thickens. Articles mended this way last for years.

(Mrs) F E Racle. Urmston.

Bloodstains

To remove blood stains, chew a reasonable length of white cotton, rub on affected part until the stain disappears.

I Smith. Manchester.

Miscellaneous

Get rid of mice

A good way to get rid of mice is to sprinkle oil or essence of peppermint about their haunts and then push a cork firmly into any mouse-hole you may find. Mice have a strong aversion to peppermint and they cannot nibble through cork.

L Connell. Withington.

Fastening your own dress

If you are alone and have a dress with a long zip that fastens up the back, put a safety-pin through the end of a long piece of tape and through the hole in the zip clasp. You can then pull it up or down yourself with ease.

J Mooney. Manchester.

Smooth complexion

No need to spend money on an 'improved' complexion. After using eggs in cooking, just smear the white remaining in the shell on your face, let it dry, then rinse off with cold water and pat dry. Your skin will glow!

R M. Manchester.

Get rid of warts

To clear warts, boil some potatoes, and with the water in which they are boiled, bathe the warts. At the end of the week, they will have nearly, if not quite gone. This remedy I have proved successful when all others had failed.

(Mrs) G W. Salford.

Ward off colds

I have found a very good way to ward off the common cold. When washing your hands and face, get some soapy water in the palm of your hands and 'sniff' up both nostrils two or three times. Do this every time you have a wash.

J U. Bradford, near Manchester.

Shaving lotion

Apply olive oil to the face before shaving and you will have a better shave. Also your skin will feel wonderfully smooth after shaving, especially if it is sensitive. It works better than any after-shave lotion. P.S. - I have stolen this tip from my husband.

(Mrs) Mary Doherty. Victoria Park.

Sharpen scissors

Blunt scissors? Sharpen them on the neck of a medicine bottle (pretend to cut at the neck of the bottle) for a couple of minutes and you'll have no more trouble.