My house was built in 1960. Through research I learned the original owners lived here from that time until they died in 2008 and 2016. When I reached out to all previous owners & relatives of the deceased people nobody recognized these items. I found them in my crawl space on top of the middle line out edge structural blocks directly below a closet. Both were stacked on each other and covered in dust. We have never had them dated or examined by anyone. We just accepted them as part of the home and hang them up every Halloween season from September until November 1st. I have always thought they were interesting. They have no writing anywhere on the frames or backing paper or picture paper. They were just here and forgotten.
A Photo I Discovered Beneath My House
I examined multiple copies & found that some were dated from 1850 while others appeared to be even older. Most of these copies were written in Latin. This book is the renowned textbook on musical counterpoint by Fux.
Nearly all the celebrated composers from the 18th & 19th centuries studied from this work. If these copies turn out to be handwritten rather than printed this could represent an important discovery. You should definitely preserve this item.
My Great-Grandmother’s 1913 Sewing Bird
The first image shows a record from insurance documents dated 1753 when my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather owned the property. The photograph of the house features my great-great-grandparents taken in 1910.
If you are younger than me you should know that collecting trading stamps was still popular until the early 1970s. People used these stamps to fill small booklets and then exchanged them for various items.
A Hidden Book Collection Found in My Attic
I found this four-leaf clover inside a book from the 1870s. Based on what I can tell the original owners used the book until around 1912 which means the clover is probably from that time period at the latest.
The item features 2 inscriptions along with inscribed drawings & patterns. It was created in Surrey in 1845 & I have never encountered anything similar to it.
At Least 10 Generations of My Family on the Same Farm
The lamp in our newly acquired late 19th-century home caught my attention right away. At first I thought about replacing them since they seemed outdated and worn
My Grandma’s Cheap Bag She Got for Coffee Coupons My grandmother was only twelve years old when she received this inexpensive bag.
For those of you younger than me, know that up until the early 1970s collecting “trading stamps,” which you used to fill little booklets and turn in for small items, was still a thing.
I discovered a four-leaf clover pressed inside an old book from the 1870s. Based on what I can tell the original owners used this book until around 1912 which means the clover is probably from that time period at the latest.
I live in a house that was built in 1912. This stained glass window is located directly above our staircase.
I received this copper plate from my great-aunt. It has engravings of different fish snails, and crayfish on it.
The handles on this faucet in my century home are really hard to turn. I want to keep the fixture & I am wondering what steps I can take to try and fix this problem.
Found this treasure
Bonus 1: a story about how the past suddenly found its former owners I purchased an antique mahogany table that was delivered from abroad.
After it sat in my home for a couple of years my child found rings with precious stones hidden inside. I did not want to keep something that belonged to someone else so I tracked down the owner. It turned out that her daughter had pushed the rings into the gaps of the table’s interior section. The mother was extremely upset because her deceased fiancé had given them to her. One signet ring had the family crest right on the stone. I returned everything to them.
Bonus 2: and this one is about not judging a book by its cover or a painting by its first layer.
A strange painting in an elegant frame was sitting in the corner of a thrift store. It showed some grim forest and nothing special. I bought it for the frame but when I started removing the canvas at home I accidentally tugged at the edge. I was amazed when I realized that beneath the ridiculous smudge was a sketch by a rather famous avant-garde artist from the early 20th century. An appraisal confirmed its authenticity & now this painting from the basket is worth as much as a small apartment. I still shudder when I remember how I almost threw the canvas in the trash.
