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January 15, 2007 |
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Ceiling Treasure
FOUND by Stephen McHenry
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
I found this artifact while ripping down my old plaster ceiling in my house, which was built in 1922.
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Alive January 05, 2007 |
It Only Takes Two... February 01, 2004 |
Sorry For Laughing July 25, 2005 |
How Tidy Is This Now December 13, 2006 |
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
.....it was in the ceiling?!
wow... unsettling
this is a treasure; why do older portraits seem so much better than newer ones?
What a great find! Wonder if they built the house in '22? They look young and she looks really nice. I'd be tempted now to do research into the orginal owners of the house....find out who they were.
Thanks for shsring them - how cool.
wow - great find!
finding old photos like this is my favorite thing to find... though it doesn't happen too often.
Beautiful find! As a found object when creating mixed media art, we call these people "instant ancestors" - you should do some research into the past owners of the house, and see if you can identify them!
My father and I have redone many houses, some ours and some other people's, but we always leave some sort of photo or note in the walls so that years from now when people tear through them they will find some sort of time capsule of the people who once enhabited the space.
How sweet! I bet they put it there so that they would stay together forever in the house where they shared so many happy years...
I think it's interesting that they're looking at different places. He seems to be staring directly at the camera and she's looking up to her left.
That's a rare smile in an old photo.
Dags, that is the most Balla shit!
The woman looks a little like Toni Collette to me.. :) So sweet! I love old pictures! And, pictures are better from back then, more sincere because it was not as common to have your picture taken.
Actually, Elizabeth, I think the are looking in the same (general) direction. It's just that he is a decent bit taller and she is off to his right. If you follow their eyes, they are both focused approximately front-and-center with his eyebrows.
Definitely a great find. Old photos whisper so many secrets.
Slightly warmer than American Gothic.
A good find indeed.
I think we should do the same as Cody and his father - an ingenuous idea and this photo is great too!
beautiful picture!
this was found on my birthday.
You should frame it and hang it on the wall : )
Nice photo! This was taken back in the days when portraits were simple yet truly lovely. No fake winter scene in the background, no fake tree trunk to lean fakily against, all the while smiling a fake smile. The subjects of the portrait are the main attraction, as it should be with potraits.
Good looking couple! What a great find...I wonder who they were, what their lives were like?
While adding-on to their 1944-built home, my parents came across many things like this in the walls and attic...strange, isn't it? Pictures, letters, newspaper clippings...always trips me out. Why were they there?
Yeah, I like old photos, too. Still, there's that Prozac quality to the gaze...
Anyone else feel as if her eyes might roll when the mouse pointer is moved across the picture?
Or is that just me?
I think maybe she has a lazy eye.
I always wonder how stuff like this gets into walls. Pictures, bottles...we found a ton of old japanese newspapers in our walls once when I was a kid. The newspaper I can understand (cheap insulation) but the fact that they were in japanese...
that lady is CREEPY!!!!
Adorable.
i agree with Alison.
deffinate lazy eye.
i've always wanted to live in an old house, for this reason. i have always wanted to find things like this and research old owners and see what their life was like. it just intrigues me so much!
that's kinda creepy...why would they have put this in the ceiling?
In Victorian times they put trinkets in the wall as an auspicious superstition so I imagine that this photo was put into the ceiling for the same reason. Superstition is undeniably romantic, though. We should all indulge in it a little more.
For those who'd rather remain practical, take a look at Chuck Pahluniak's 'Diary' for a scribbling inside walls scenario that turns out to be a little more offbeat..
great stories probably not true but who gives a rats ass
Why does it seem like no matter how the age of the people in the picture, that old pictures (such as this) seem so effing creepy?????
My dad used to have this portrait of his great great uncle (i believe) hanging in our living room and when my sister and i were young, we used to be scared s***less of it. I still am. his eyes follow you.
Her left eye is looking right at the camera and the right one is looking way up and off. He is very, very handsome. Gorgeous eyes and lips! I wonder how many children they had, if any. I went to an estate sale last weekend and there were hundreds of photos like this taken in the very early 1900's of a couple and their family (beautiful portraits and also more casual ones) and just for sale to the public. No family wanted them which made me feel tremendously sad!
Is that a pre-op transexual on the left ??
I bet if you do some checking you will find that this couple lived in your house. Once in awhile people tuck pictures of themselves into their walls or ceilings where they live... it's a way to immortalize themselves.
Frame it. Keep it. You were meant to find it.
It's nice to know that guys in the 20s were hot.
I think her left eye is looking forwar and the right one is looking to the left. AAAAAH, the lil lovebirds- obviously before children.
It must be just me that thinks they look like brother and sister... its a wierd picture. they look scary!
28x15? I need to get the calculator.
Awesome find!! I only wish I could find things like this. Have you done any research to see who they were? If not, e-mail me at angie 66203 at yahoo dot come and I'll do research for you! It intrigues this writer.
I must say.. I usually LOVE Old Photos (abandoned ancestors) but this photo- it doesn't sit well with me.
I'm also not sure how I missed this picture so long ago. I mean, I've been here forever, and I thought I'd been thru all of the Finds here at least twice.. but I don't remember this one. Today on a whim I just typed in the numerical portion of the address of where I grew up. I'm totally freaking out right now.
(I've built single and multifamily homes and condos as well as commercial buildings, remodeled older homes.. and I've ALWAYS left something- a note, a picture- a sign of the times- somewhere in the structure. Chances are they'll never be Found. But what if they are? (some even mentioned Found Magazine)
she looks like a beautiful black woman.....
with a lazy eye
Stephen, if you're interested in potentially locating the owner (which would be a really cool thing to do). You may want to consider doing a little historical research of previous owners/deed holders or tennants at your local historical society. I'm sure the descendants would love to have the photo if you can find them. In the meantime, consider posting it on FamilyOldPhotos.com
I always think it is sad that photos like this end up floating around with no one to claim them as family.
maybe they put a picture of their parents in the ceiling so they'd always be watching over them... just a theory.
As a carpenter for over twenty years I also made it a practise to put things inside walls for others to find years down the road. Mostly it was Harley Davidson catalogs but sometimes a magazine. My little piece of future history.