Wired Design has a fun collection of vintage manuals that illustrate (literally!) how it used to be commonplace to be able to fix your stuff — whether or not you had the courage to crack the manual! [Photo credit: Ariel Zambelich/Wired]
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My favorite manual was/is a general home repair tome. I think it was put out by Good Housekeeping, and it covered the generalities of most of the systems and appliances in the average home. With a generic guide to how a washing machine works and what the typical parts are, you can dig into your own machine and identify parts that are broken. It makes “disposable” items repairable, if you can find the right parts.
The Volkswagen manual is the best one ever made. The guy wrote a handful of manuals each one I have read is excellent. If i had the ability to write i would want to write ones like his. Every time i look in the VW manual I notice something i have never noticed before. The margins are filled with doodles and sketches. Excellent read even if you don’t own a VW.
Best handyman guide ever was Better Homes and Garden Handyman Manual in a binder so you could remove pages while working on items. it covers all the tools and how to use them all home appliances heating cooling ect.
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