The Holiday Gift Set

This section is all about how to be healthy, cheerful, and fresh. Here you’ll find out how to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation without getting punched in the nose. You’ll learn how to remove your appendix if you don’t need it anymore. We’ll tell you which mushrooms are tasty and which mushrooms are fun (what are mushrooms and what are shrooms). We’ll teach you yoga and Chinese needle therapy. Believe us, all of this knowledge will come in handy in the ruins of the post-apocalyptic world! (not to mention in the modern world, given the cost of medical insurance). We’ll also explain how to make gypsum, glue, penicillin or even all three together from scratch.

Researchers have concluded that human brain development was always influenced by laziness and greed. We want to have as much as possible with minimal effort and that’s what makes us geniuses. Mills and water pumps will do the work for you. The combustion engine will help you in traveling any distance. Cameras made of boxes and paper with photosensitive surfaces will immortalize your successes.

The home of ancient man began from fire, so if you don’t want to be dumber than your ancestors you need to learn how to use flint and steel. If all goes smoothly, you’ll be able to build a log house, weave a rug, mould houseware out of clay and build a boat. You’ll learn the art of tying knots and using natural dyes. But above all, you’ll learn how to construct a unique top-class mousetrap, so rodents won’t have any chance. (Failing to do that, read about cat domestication in the Farming section.)

Life is not only about surviving; it’s also about not dying of boredom. There will be fewer fights in your survivor camp if you give people cards and chess. Your children won’t set fire to your house (built thanks to the instructions of the Hearth and Home section) because they will be playing ball or flying a kite. You’ll become a local movie mogul if you make a phenakistiscope, a device that creates the illusion of motion. By the way! We’ll tell you how to make a vibrator.

Rituals, traditions, and etiquette are as significant as mechanisms and materials. The most basic and peculiar inventions of human communication were collected in The Ultimate Guide. How do you tie a tie to make a good impression? What is the philosophy behind fashion? What are the rules of setting a table and marking the road? How exactly do you carry out seppuku in the way that will most impress others?

People had not yet invented writing when they discovered that fried meat was much better than raw and that fermented fruit juice dissipated sorrow and made them sleep like a baby. Over time, cooking has become a real art that requires imagination and ingenuity. Asians held raw fish in a pressing machine for weeks to make sushi. Arab nomads occasionally discovered cheese recipe by keeping milk in bags made of sheep’s stomachs. And don’t forget to learn the recipe of the main food invention, which is bread. Without bread you won’t be able to make your new world fully civilized.