The term life hacks is relatively new, but did you know that they have been around for a very long time? That’s right. In the 1900s, Gallaher’s Cigarettes started putting stiff paper in their packs of cigarettes to help add some strength because it made them last longer. Over time, someone came up with the idea that these pieces of stiff paper should have trivia, artwork, and pictures of famous people printed on them. This idea quickly caught on and they started to include “How To Do It” cards in each pack of cigarettes. Some of the tips were extremely useful, while others were more fun. Lucky for us, the entire collection which contains 100 cards is on display at the New York Public Library’s George Arents Collection. They also recently made these cards available online for all to see, but here are 40 of our favorite vintage life hacks from the Gallaher Cigarette packs.
1. When Boiling Cracked Eggs
2. Three Useful Knots
3. How To Treat Squeaky Boots
4. How To Treat Sprains
5. How To Test Butter
6. How To Tell The Points Of The Compass With A Watch
7. How To Take Ink Stains Out Of A Handkerchief
8. How To Stop A Runaway Horse
9. To Separate Glass Tumblers
10. How to Remove Sea Stains From Brown Shoes
11. How To Remove A Tight Ring From The Finger
12. How To Remove Glass Stopper From Bottle
13. How To Pull Out Long Nails
14. How To Preserve Valuable Vases
15. How To Pick Up Broken Glass
16. How To Measure With Coins
17. How To Make Corks Fit
18. How To Make Water Fountain For Chicks
19. How To Make A Simple Gate Latch
20. How To Make A Fire Extinguisher
21. How To Light A Match In The Wind
22. How To Kill A Tree Stump
23. How To Keep A Paint Brush Handle Clean
24. How To Judge Freshness Of A Lobster
25. To Fit A Large Candle
26. How To Extract A Splinter
27. How To Draw An Ellipse With String
28. How To Draw A Circle Without Compasses
29. How To Detect Escaping Gas
30. How To Detect Dampness In Beds
31. How To Cut New Bread Into Thin Slices
32. How To Cool Wine Without Ice
33. How To Clean Real Lace
34. How To Clean New Boots
35. How To Clean Bottles
36. How To Clean Oil Paintings
37. How To Adjust A Door
38. A Hint When Boiling Potatoes
39. How To Revive Cut Flowers
40. How To Carry A Heavy Jug
It’s always cool to see what things were like in the past. And these cigarette cards are really fun to look at because they are vintage, but they also give you ideas on how to do things today, when it’s a bit more modern. It’d be really fun to see all of the cards in person. But if you can’t, you can view all of the Gallaher Cigarette cards that are now digitized HERE.
