DEAR ABBY: This predates pantyhose a bit: Forty-four years ago, I joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was required to spit-shine two pairs of brown riding boots, two pairs of black ankle boots and one pair of Wellingtons.
Each evening, after all the spit-shines were complete, a ball of nylon stockings a bit larger than a baseball was used to "fine-tune" the job.
To this day, I still have that nylon ball -- but I'll never reveal where it came from! -- R.B. IN OTTAWA