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8
Hamtil Construction LLC
Hamtil Construction LLC Professional Saint Louis, MO on Mar 22, 2012
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Found during demo

Over the years, we have made some interesting discoveries during project demo. Frequently, we unearth old newspapers like this one yesterday from 1940. "4 grapefruit for $.17... lamb chops $.25/ lb" tells a story of the good old days! Have you ever made any great discoveries during a project?
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57 Comments Displaying 25 of 57 comments | See Previous
  • Hamtil Construction LLC Saint Louis, MO
    Cira- Ha! Years ago we found some old beer cans lined up inside an interior wall cavity at a 1950's home, and a timecard rolled up and placed inside one of them. Fun to think of what was happening on the jobsite that day.

    So many great stories! Thanks all for chiming in!

    on Mar 23, 2012 · Like 2
  • John T
    newspapers under the floor covering in our Evanston kitchen, dating from 1938... interesting reading. Then the maple floor under that!
    on Mar 23, 2012 · Like 0
  • Eunice M Waianae, HI
    Im not a builder but i love to look at things that everyone post gives me ideas...but this is to funny at what people find when they redo there houses ...must be neat to find things from the past ,but not rubbish...lol
    on Mar 23, 2012 · Like 0
  • Sahra A Omaha, NE
    my husband found a penny from 1840 in a house last week it had an idian head on it pretty kool
    on Mar 23, 2012 · Like 1
  • Daniel M Grayson, KY
    I was taking down a wall in a friends home getting ready to put in a second bathroom for them and behind the wall was a small bathroom that looks like it was put in in the 30's or 40's
    on Mar 23, 2012 · Like 4
  • Steve B Lakeville, IN
    When repairing a cast iron pipe in a turn of the century house I found a plumbob that must have been hanging there for a hundred years
    on Mar 23, 2012 · Like 2
  • Richard J Lincoln, AR
    I never got to pull it out, but we lived in a house in the fifties thru early sixties that had a medicine cabinet with a slot for razor blades in the back of it. I wonder what else may have been in there.
    on Mar 23, 2012 · Like 2
  • Jim F Marysville, WA
    very cool !! i too found a news paper from ww2 bold letters Japan Surrenders! in beautiful condition Also showed a pic. of Jimmy Stewart recieving a decoration Then someone stole it . What a drag!!
    on Mar 23, 2012 · Like 2
  • Faidra at CA Global Inc Marietta, GA
    I purchased a home in Mississippi in the early 90's, during the reno I found early 60's newspapers the real estate ads reflected at that time that I would not have been allowed to purchase the actual house I was standing in because of the color of my skin...
    on Mar 24, 2012 · Like 0
  • Nita O Ridgeley, WV
    So far, we have uncovered (literally) a 4x6 closet, one of the oldstyle closets that were about 18" deep and 3 feet wide, and a pantry that is 12" deep and 4 feet wide. Last month, we found a window that had been covered over. Nothing compares to the booze I posted earlier tho!
    on Mar 24, 2012 · Like 1
  • Jay A Marietta, GA
    this reminds me of an article i read not so long back.....some school was moving the bleachers and found some guys wallet that he lost there in the 1950's. he was happy to get it returned!
    on Mar 25, 2012 · Like 3
  • SheilaG, Plum Doodles Acworth, GA
    wow, Nita, sounds like you found a house within a house. Maybe that booze explains why so much of the house got hidden.
    on Mar 25, 2012 · Like 0
  • KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO
    @ nita...it might have something to do with hiding the booze...rather than drinking it...That whole prohibition thing...secret and hidden rooms to keep the investigators on their toes.
    on Mar 25, 2012 · Like 1
  • Karin F Charleston, WV
    In front of our house is a crazy mess of ivy so thick that going through it was like an archeological dig. As I was removing the layers of ivy, I started finding random newspapers, nicely sealed in plastic bags, from nearly 2 decades back. The toys I found were adorable--from baseballs to tonka trucks to the simplest toy cars for toddlers. It was like traveling back through a little boy's childhood. The funniest thing I found was that at the bottom of it all was a WALL. A big honking stone ...»
    wall. None of the neighbors had any idea there was a wall there. The ivy had consumed it.

    on Mar 29, 2012 · Like 1
  • KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO
    Karin F...its little projects like this that inspire young folks to pursue a careers as archeologists. You get to still dig in the dirt but also be able to use your brain to try to fit all of the puzzle pieces together.
    on Mar 29, 2012 · Like 2
  • Robert P Arlington, WA
    All I ever was a 48 Packard in the stream.
    on Mar 29, 2012 · Like 1
  • Hamtil Construction LLC Saint Louis, MO
    Recently, I saw a home for sale listing in Glen Ellyn, IL, where in 1963 a man was excavating a pond in the backyard and unearthed an 11,000 yr old Mastadon skeleton. http://www.wheaton.edu/community/perry - now that's a hard one to top.
    on Mar 29, 2012 · Like 1
  • Evelyn R Manchester, MD
    Some years ago I had my bedroom redone in this old house I'm in. In the ceiling rafters - which were constructed with every imaginable type of wood,even a few door jambs - we found an old knitted bootie, the leather sole still whole and some pages from a church's newletter for kids (old, late 1890's). I took that to the town's historian and she was so excited! They had heard that this church published a newsletter and mailed it to children but they'd never come across any of them. It's now in the town's historical society.

    on Mar 31, 2012 · Like 3
  • Evelyn R Manchester, MD
    The downstairs "powder room" has one of those old medicine cabinets with the razor blade slot. I'll never replace it. The 2-story shed in the yard has a 2-seater in it..
    on Mar 31, 2012 · Like 1
  • The Pond Digger Yucaipa, CA
    I have an old victorian home. We have yet to make any discoveries however each time we do any work where we open up a wall I make sure some baseball cards make their way into the wall before I button things up. Think about it........
    on Oct 26, 2012 · Like 1
  • Hamtil Construction LLC Saint Louis, MO
    Ha! Great idea The Pond Digger. I have found a few old cards.. most recent one we remember was a Joe Torre Mets card a couple years ago.
    on Oct 26, 2012 · Like 0
  • Boss construction and roo... Rockford, MI
    Pond digger, I put a dollar bill of the year I am doing the work, in a zip lock baggy in the wall.

    on Oct 27, 2012 · Like 1
  • Dawn P Brandon, MN
    Remodel our bathroom with my then husband and found old medicine bottles and a few booze bottle a old knife and some old papers. so when we started to close up the walls we put Pepsi can and a newspaper some other things my kids wanted to put in it like a time capsule for someone else to find. Was a fun for us to find so thought someone else to find
    on Feb 17, 2013 · Like 1
  • Hamtil Construction LLC Saint Louis, MO
    Like the time capsule ideas! Dawn P - I've left old newspapers above cabinets, behind the trim, for others to find as well.
    on Feb 18, 2013 · Like 0
  • Heather Eby Canada
    we found a full page newspaper ad for A & P grocery store from 1932..it was behind an old picture when we opened the frame....i have it re-framed in my kitchen....eggs 33 cents a dozen, pork roast 6 cents a pound and bacon 19 cents a pound and many more deals...everyone who looks at it just goes "wow"
    on Feb 18, 2013 · Like 0

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