Back in the old wild-wild-West days, petroleum jelly made its debut using the trade name "Vaseline." It's remained unchanged for more than 120 years. It's one of those all-purpose, handy-dandy products that cowboys and homeowners have been using for just about everything -- from softening saddles, to preventing rust on tools, guns and metal stuff of all kinds. Rub a little on your hands and you've got yourself an invisible glove of sorts that makes dirty, messy cleanups easier. Rub a little on your face and you've got a shiny look that protects your mug from spattering paint when you're sprucing up the old ranch house. Rub a little on any kind of threads -- from nuts and bolts to light bulb bases -- for easy-on, easy-off, in-and-out, and to prevent corrosion and make seals watertight. Experiment a tad and you'll find even more uses for petroleum jelly, but we'll be darned if we know what it was invented for in the first place. And that's the On The House tip for today.