{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "100-Year-Old Life Hacks That Are Surprisingly Useful Today", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/190822643163/", "html": "

isaacsapphire:

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cydril:

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aaronstjames:

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justlifehacks:

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People don\u2019t often look back on the early 1900\u2019s for advice, but what if we could actually learn something from the Lost Generation? The New York Public Library has digitized 100 \u201chow to do it\u201d cards found in cigarette boxes over 100 years ago, and the tips they give are so practical that millennials reading this might want to take notes.

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Back in the day, cigarette cards were popular collectibles included in every pack, and displayed photos of celebrities, advertisements, and more. Gallaher cigarettes, a UK-founded tobacco company that was once the largest in the world, decided to print a series of helpful how-to\u2019s on their cards, which ranged from mundane tasks (boiling potatoes) to unlikely scenarios (stopping a runaway horse). Most of them are insanely clever, though, like how to make a fire extinguisher at home. Who even knew you could do that?

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The entire set of life hacks is now part of the NYPL\u2019s George Arents Collection. Check out some of the cleverest ones we could find below. You never know when you\u2019ll have to clean real lace!

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Keep reading

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Plunging cut stems in hot water is still a thing in the florist trade.

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101 uses for water, apparently

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Ooooh, I can use the \u201cunstick glasses stuck together\u201d trick!

BTW historically, runaway horses were like car malfunctions; it\u2019s a thing that happened sometimes because horses sometimes get freaked out and just nope out real hard, but it was obviously a far more common hazard when everyone got around by horse.

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