Did you know that if you lack brown polish for a pair of brown shoes, you can use the inside of a banana skin? Well, now you do, thanks to The Batchelor Girl's Guide to Everything by Agnes M. Miall, first published in 1916 and reissued by Oneworld (£9.99/offer £9.49). I'm not sure that I am ready to take her advice about pouring petrol over my clothes to get rid of stains, but I'm up for the banana trick.

This year's stocking stuffer of choice, as far as I'm concerned, is the retro reprint. Perhaps following on the old-fashioned attractions of The Dangerous Book for Boys last year, publishers have plundered the farther reaches of their backlist for books of advice and information which may, at first glance, seem comic, but often enough have real worth and punch.

If you know someone who is no longer a bachelor girl (or boy) you could do worse than hand over the straightforwardly titled Don'ts for Husbands and Don'ts for Wives by the endearingly authoritative Blanche Ebutt (A&C Black £2.99 each/£2.84). They were first published in 1913, so you may feel you can disregard remarks on the management of servants; but her words on kindness and consideration are as useful today as they were nearly a century ago — and the books themselves, tiny little volumes, are adorable.

If all this seems a little quotidien, why not find The Magic Key to Charm as first imparted by Eileen Ascroft in 1938? (Vintage £12.99/ £11.69) As you will learn, you may not have Beauty, you may not possess Glamour, but Charm — if you work at it — can always be yours. Are you the Clever Type or a Good Time Girl? You will learn the answer, and much more, in these elegant pages.

Celebrity festive favourites, part two

More Christmas classics from some of Britain's best-loved celebrities

• Celebrity festive favourites

BACKGROUND

• The Times Christmas choice: thrillers

• The Times Christmas choice: science fiction / fantasy

• The Times Christmas choice: sport

• The Times Christmas choice: politics

• The Times Christmas Choice: nostalgia

BACKGROUND

• The Times Christmas choice: food

• The Times Christmas choice: wine

• The Times Christmas choice: poetry

• The Times Christmas Choice: photography

• The Times Christmas Choice: Times writers

In need of something more bracing? Tempus has reissued a series of manuals published before and during the Second World War: Air Raid Precautions; Civil Defence Manual of Basic Training; Home Guard Manual and The National Serviceman's Handbook, Infantry Training (£9.99 each/offer £9.49). If you know someone who loves Dad's Army — and knows that it's as serious as it's funny — these books are for them.

Also on the Home Front is 101 Things to Do in War Time by Lillie B. and Arthur C. Horth, first released by Batsford (£7.99/£7.59) in 1940 and reprinted, I'm pleased to say, by the same publisher now. I can hardly avoid mentioning that along with making toy ships to amuse yourself, learning windowbox gardening to feed yourself and first aid to repair yourself and those around you, you can follow the progress of the war by looking at maps printed in newspapers: “those published by The Times newspaper are excellent”.

For the health conscious, you could purchase any one of the zillion diet books that will surely be out in the new year — or you could invest £9.99 in Eating for Victory: Healthy Home Front Cooking on War Rations (Michael O'Mara, offer £9.49). It reproduces information leaflets published during the war, and it's plain that what was good advice under difficult circumstances is still good advice in a time of plenty. British households in 2007, we recently learnt, throw away one in every three shopping bags full of the food that they buy — 6.7 million tonnes a year.

This is clearly because we are not making enough rissoles. I'm not joking. Don't throw away those bread crusts: make stuffing, even if you don't have anything to stuff, it's even better baked in a dish in the oven. Discover the “Welsh Wonder” (it involves leeks and cheese) and how to make pastry from potatoes. Hours of economical fun to be had.

To end the wartime theme, read What Britain Has Done, 1939-1945, originally issued by the Ministry of Information, now republished by Atlantic (£9.99/£9.49). Its selection of “outstanding facts and figures” may have an imperial ring, but are inspiring nonetheless.

Finally, don't just sit in front of the telly, have a look at English Heritage's The Games We Played, edited by Susan Kelleher (£8.99/£8.54) and learn — if you don't remember — how to play Wall to Wall, Tin-off, Adder's Nest and Capture the Flag. Don't you want to be the one to call out: “Who's for a game of Finger, Thumb or Rusty Bum?”

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