A 1930s-era guide on how to troubleshoot home maintenance repairs so that you can keep your home running, looking and feeling its best...

{HISTORY}

Long before there was Martha Stewart, Norm Abrahms, HGTV, and a slew of DIY'ers on YouTube, there was Roger B Whitman - your go-to resource for all questions and concerns regarding home maintenance and upkeep. A long-time newspaper columnist and a radio authority on home maintenance, Roger was America's trusted resource for decades when it came to repairing, patching and perfecting home maintenance tasks.

Beginning in the 1930s, he advised homeowners on all sorts of projects from the ground up with advice on how to repair or assess just about any problem situation from cement walkways to roofing issues to furniture repair and cleaning tips.

Adapting and modifying his knowledge as the decades progressed, Roger was especially sensitive to home repairs being made during the war years when budgets were tight, repair helpers were stretched thin and supplies were harder to come by.  Always straightforward, encouraging, and informative, Roger helped homeowners breathe a sigh of relief when his book, First Aid for the Ailing House was published in 1934. It combined years of real-life problems and situations real homeowners faced and the solutions that solved their situations. Many a house in the 1930s and 1940s, was patched up thanks to Roger's knowledge and advice.

Collecting vintage home maintenance books can offer invaluable insight into caring for your home, especially if the book was written in the same decade that your home was built.  Oftentimes, these vintage marvels highlighted methods, tools, and techniques that applied not only to the time period but to the traditional way of tackling repair jobs before extra expense was spent on professional repairmen.  Sometimes these books can offer further insight into how your old house was cared for long before you ever lived there. 

Roger passed away in 1942 at the age of 67, but the information he provided throughout his career was so valuable that his column was still being reprinted in newspapers well into the 1970s. 

This is the second edition - the 1938 printing of First Aid for the Ailing House. It covers a wide range of topics including the correct application of putty, re-roofing old shingles, how to select house paint or plan out the interior arrangement of the heating system and how to build a garden pool. A plethora of ideas and information await inside these pages.

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- 1938 edition

- 349 pages 

- Illustrated throughout with black and white line drawings

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition. This book is clean and bright throughout with lightly tanned pages and a tight spine. a previous owner's name is written in fountain pen on the front inside endpaper as well as page 77 (the Plumbing chapter). All pages are intact and the coverboards are clean and unmarked. 

{SIZE}

Measures 8.25" inches (length) x 5.75" inches (width) x 1.5" inches (thickness)