I thought I would share a secret treasure trove we found in our own house. Our lovely terrace house was built in 1912. The layout is completely original except for the loft conversion. We recently renovated the void under the stairs to give us some much needed storage. When the builder was pulling off the old tongue and groove wooden boards he uncovered a time capsule of ancient household items which had been boarded up and forgotten.
The contents were seemingly quite random. The largest item was an old tin trunk but there were also picture frames, food tins and even a hand-written spelling test by Marjorie Carss. The curator in me was very over-excited and we went through every item one by one, trying to identify what everything was.
We identified stone hot water bottles, gas fittings, old radio speakers, a meat mincer, metal corset stays, sweet tins, biscuit tins, religious prints, black and white photographs of children and soldiers, and a full tin of LACTA milk formula.
Where possible we re-used some of the items. The picture frames were cleaned up, broken glass was replaced and they now hang (with our own photographs) in our lounge. The wooden boxes display some of my crafty pieces around the house and the photographs have been put in acid-free sleeves in case the local museum want them.
We couldn’t understand why so many items had been dumped under the stairs and boarded up. They seem to date from the 1920-60s so perhaps someone died and they had a clear out or items were collected for the rag and bone man who never knocked.
I didn’t buy any of the vintage finds as I was lucky enough to find them under my nose and so I’m linking up with Flea Market Finds, Magpie Monday and Thrift Share Monday – please follow the links for more lovely vintage discoveries.
What a wonderful find! So exciting to discover that little bit of history in your house.
Gosh! That is like something from one of the books I read as a child. Secret Seven etc. I’ve always wanted to discover something like that. Glad to see you are affording it the respect it deserves.
Oooo! What a story and what a find! Just make me want to know much more. Great you found a use for things too. My Magpie Monday bit is over at http://celebratingmums.wordpress.com
I love that story, how exciting and what a mystery too.
Oh my gosh, those photos! I love vintage pictures so much, and to find them in your own house makes them even more special.
Oh my mind would be going into overdrive! Why would they do that? What does it mean? Who were the people?
Wow wow wow! I’d be straight down the county archives finding out who lived there, the might even still have relatives. What an amazing story x
wow treasure right under your nose how fantastic to stumble across all of that
Wow, very cool, it’s like a time capsule!
wow! I dream of finding secret hidden treasures like these, how excited you must have been. We have found the odd thing here and there in the attics of the houses we have lived in, but nothing like this step back in time 🙂
What a magical find right in the heart of your own home, I love that you have reused the frames, they may have been hanging in your house last century and you’ve reinstated them. Wonderful! 🙂
What wonderful finds. You must have been delighted I know i would have been ! Lucky you.
Oh my word, how wonderful! I would have been totally fascinated if I had found them in my house, you’re so lucky 😉 x
Wow interesting discoveries! A bit sad that they’ve sat there so long with no-one to claim them, but wonderful that you’ve given some of the pieces a new lease of life 😀