Artifacts
The Story
Exploring in and around our house has yielded a couple of surprising finds. For us, it started in the attic space that’s only accessible from the outside. When I first moved in, I noticed the lone window above the “4th bedroom.” I didn’t even own a ladder at that point! I knew this was an area I would want to investigate to check on its condition, particularly the insulation. And so it was that one day, after having purchased a ladder to clean gutters, I wound up going on my first adventure. What I found in those dusty confines was spectacular and I have since returned most of it to the previous owner with the intention of sharing more once this pandemic subsides. Inside that small attic space were two largely empty deteriorating steamer trunks. One contained old instruction manuals for some of the household appliances, while the other had old U.S. Army leave papers. Hanging from the rafters behind these was a World War II Cavalry officer’s uniform in a garment bag along with the leather shoulder belt! Years later, while using a metal detector in the backyard, I found this officer’s Captain’s bars, or “railroad tracks,” just beneath the lawn by the back patio. Not far away behind the garage was an old G.I. Zippo style lighter. I found it frozen in time with rust, as if it had just been flicked back to light a cigarette!
On another incursion, I wormed my way back, not without some amount of courage, underneath the floors of the original addition to the house in the crawlspace leading to the Master Bedroom. I felt like Lando Calrissian guiding the Millennium Falcon through the innards of the Death Star in Return of the Jedi. I had to squeeze and contort beneath heating ducts in ways that only a circus performer could best. My objective was to reach the undercroft area beneath the Master Bedroom so I could reinforce the floor vent in preparation for the new carpet being laid. Secondarily, I thought it would be good to check its status as well. What I found there was a treasure trove of children’s toys in a space, almost like a room, that I could half stand up in. The lone window looked out to the backyard vegetable garden and was covered in dust. It felt like a tomb or a dungeon, but I think, based on our work above in the master bedroom, it was more likely the underpinnings of an old porch. As for the toys, they most likely fell down through the floor vent or were relics inadvertently left when the first addition to the house was put on. There were glass marbles, pages from an old children’s book, metal cars from another era before Hot Wheels were a thing, scattered among a bow legged plastic cowboy without his horse, a Native American figure and a faded tiger with orange and black stripes. Can I get a WHO DEY?! Sleeping nearby was an almost intact Fisher Price “Buzy Bee” toddler pull toy from the 1950’s that still clicks and clacks! Perhaps the greatest find was a hand carved dachshund that my daughter treasures. Additionally, there was a yo-yo with the name “Bruce” scratched into it as well as the broken bottom of a clear glass bottle with the year 1846. It makes you wonder that a house listed as being from 1879 may have perhaps been a little older than that with such an artifact. How long does a glass bottle stick around before breaking?
Probably the most spectacular find happened when we were preparing the dining room for some new wainscoting. After removing most of the chair rail, I encountered a section that contained a Swedish coin nailed beneath it. Apparently it was added as a way to date the renovation of the room! It is a bronze 2 Ore Gustaf VI Adolf King of Sweden dated 1954. The oddest find? A child’s premolar, complete with filling, found in the backyard beneath the window area of the “4th bedroom.” Either some child never had the chance to collect their fee or the tooth fairy dropped it after visiting.
Other notable discoveries:
Behind walls: Completion Notes from previous family redecorating in back bathroom behind wallpaper and in kitchen behind washer/dryer
On Surfaces: previous owners’ daughter’s name “Debbie” carved into workshop table in the basement
Digging in the backyard I struck metal several times. Unfortunately, never gold.
Including:
railroad spikes along the Bamboo Trail
a horseshoe with nails still embedded beneath the Rainbow Coneflower Garden
a sidewalk leading to old privy from the back of the house that ran under the lawn. This must have been laid previous to first addition as the sidewalk continues under the house in the crawlspace. Somewhere out in the backyard amongst the daisies is a hole. Hopefully a deep one. Maybe one day a more professional archaeologist will find a Coke bottle.
garden shears, spade, functioning water nozzle, toy metal ladder, and a “wheat” penny in the ground behind the detached garage.
