Buried Treasure

[Warbaby]

The blue flashlight is from the 30s, I think. The other one is a Hawes, from England, and is from the WWII era - note the extra 'blackout' screen that replaces the lens and lets just a bit of light through pointing downward.

 

[Big Man]

I was out working in the garden today getting ready for some early planting when I dug up this old coin. It's a 1898 Indian head one cent piece. Who lost it and when? Back during the Summer I found an old 1906 dime in the garden. I'm beginning to think there is real "buried treasure" there.

 

[Shangas]

Perhaps rent a metal-detector?

 

[Big Man]

Perhaps rent a metal-detector?

Not a bad idea.

 

[jamespowers]

Not a bad idea.

A really good idea actually. Maybe the relatives didn't believe in banks like many people during that time.

 

[Big Man]

I found a different kind of "buried treasure" today. In the old homeplace, there is a small door that opens to a closet of sorts under the stairs. Many, many years ago the door (and most of the woodwork) was stained/varnished. Since about the 1940's, most of the wood has been painted (at least three different coats over the years).

Since retiring almost two years ago, I've been working on "restoring" the old place to as close as I can to it's 1920's to 1930's colors. Yesterday I started striping the old paint off the above mentioned closet door. Today I got down through all the old paint to the original stained wood. To my surprise, I found some marking on the front of the door. It appears to have been where a child (it was at the right height for a one or two year-old) took a pencil and marked all over the door. I can only guess that it may have been where my Dad marked up the front of the door when he was a little boy in the mid 1920's. He would have been the only child living in the old house who would have been of the right age to do something like that.

Just think how long that marking has been hidden. Probably everyone had forgotten about it. Now that I found it, there is no one left to ask about it. Little things like the marking on the door are real "buried treasures" to me. This is one of the great things about living in the old family homeplace.

 

[jamespowers]

I found a different kind of "buried treasure" today. In the old homeplace, there is a small door that opens to a closet of sorts under the stairs. Many, many years ago the door (and most of the woodwork) was stained/varnished. Since about the 1940's, most of the wood has been painted (at least three different coats over the years).

Since retiring almost two years ago, I've been working on "restoring" the old place to as close as I can to it's 1920's to 1930's colors. Yesterday I started striping the old paint off the above mentioned closet door. Today I got down through all the old paint to the original stained wood. To my surprise, I found some marking on the front of the door. It appears to have been where a child (it was at the right height for a one or two year-old) took a pencil and marked all over the door. I can only guess that it may have been where my Dad marked up the front of the door when he was a little boy in the mid 1920's. He would have been the only child living in the old house who would have been of the right age to do something like that.

Just think how long that marking has been hidden. Probably everyone had forgotten about it. Now that I found it, there is no one left to ask about it. Little things like the marking on the door are real "buried treasures" to me. This is one of the great things about living in the old family homeplace.

That's a good one. It reminds me that I found my grandfather's old circular saw in the workshop(which I can use) I opened the box and found a card in it. It was from my father to my grandfather for father's day. Nice gift. I am still using it in the same shop.

 

[Treetopflyer]

Coal! I find a lot of coal chunks in my back yard. I live in a house built in 1918 that still has the coal Shute and a coal fireplace. I have yet to find any awesome treasure buried back there. The house has since been upgraded to a diesel burning boiler.

 

[Big Man]

While working in the garden the other day I found what I am sure is the top to a child's porcelain china tea pot. It most certainly had to belong to my aunt Hazel (born 1908) or my aunt Sara (born 1911). The area where it was found was where several grape vines were prior to 1922 (this according to an old photo I have that I can date to that time). It would have been the perfect place for a little girl to be playing while her mother was working in the garden.

I recall my aunt Hazel talking about how she used to have play tea parties with her doll. She even talked about how she used to take sewing pins and lay them in an "X" on the train tracks (which were just below the house). When the train ran over the crossed pins, they would be mashed together and made a toy scissors for her doll.

My dear aunt has been gone for eight years now, but I know she would have remembered the day she lost the top of her little tea pot. It would have been something had I found this while she was still living. What a story that would have been.

 

[Renault]

Not buried, really just laying on top of the ground.

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

Not buried, really just laying on top of the ground.




Pretty cool find, living in the land of Flint and Beech I have scanned the fields when out walking but have never found any flint tools. I went to the wilderness gathering a few weeks ago and had a lesson in flint knapping from Will Lord, found it really interesting and quite hard, reading the flint before hitting it to get that shape for a hand axe, arrow head, knife. I made a hide scraper.

Would love to find an arrow head at some point.

 

[Renault]

Well, Mr. Godfrey. Come to Texas! We will go look for a few!

 

[dh66]

I remember when I was a kid my granddad would plow the fields in spring and my cousins and I would spend the next few days walking around picking up arrowheads from the fresh turned dirt.

 

[Tomtheantiquarian]

I see them every day in my lantern collection. These are fairly sought after as they magnify the light given off by a lantern. These were usually used on dash lanterns used on wagons.
Here is another one:


You can see it in use here:
View attachment 91

It makes sense as most people didn't have electricity or automobile transportation back then. The ubiquitous lantern was our friend. Check to see if you have the lantern still hanging around.

It is very likely the lens from a Dietz Police Lantern. Lanterns of this sort were called bullseye lanterns in Great Britain; the term often appears in older British mysteries. These lanterns predate the widespread use of kerosene in this country.

Dietz still exists, but they no longer make their Police Lantern. That's unfortunate as it would be ideal for survivalists or people who wish to liive off-grid.

http://www.ushandcuffs.com/Dietzlantern.html

 

[Tomtheantiquarian]

When outhouses were common, even in cities, they were an ideal place to dispose of weapons used in murders and robberies. Shoot somebody, run down an alley, toss the gun in any outhouse you pass and keep on going. When I lived in San Francisco, outhouse pistols turned up on a fairly regular basis (SF was a pretty rowdy place in the late 19th century).

Here's a nice example - I didn't dig it myself, but got it in trade from a guy who did.

I suppose one could chip away the encrustations and find out what sort of pistol it is, but I like it just the way it was found.

There's a museum of dugup firearms in Cody, Wyoming. It's a fascinating place in a fascinating city.

http://americanhandgunner.com/codys-dug-up-gun-museum/

Cody has another museum which boasts among other things of having the largest private collection of firearms in the world as well as much more. It's the largest museum between Minneapolis and Seattle.

http://centerofthewest.org/

Visitors love our local park as well. It's called Yellowstone.

Please forgive my unabashed bragging about my home. I've lived here for seven years and have found my dream. They'll have to carry me out.

I used to stay here on trips before I made my move.

http://irmahotel.com/

 

[jamespowers]

It is very likely the lens from a Dietz Police Lantern. Lanterns of this sort were called bullseye lanterns in Great Britain; the term often appears in older British mysteries. These lanterns predate the widespread use of kerosene in this country.

Dietz still exists, but they no longer make their Police Lantern. That's unfortunate as it would be ideal for survivalists or people who wish to liive off-grid.

http://www.ushandcuffs.com/Dietzlantern.html

True but the police lanterns had lenses that were far bigger than an inch and a half across.

 

[Tomtheantiquarian]

True but the police lanterns had lenses that were far bigger than an inch and a half across.

I stand corrected. The lanterns didn't seem all that large based on the size of the handles.

 

[1mach1]

I just found a box containing 3 NOS 1971 Mustang 4 speed shifter boots! I knew I had one, but totally forgot I had 3! I bought the first one 20 years ago, so I know I must have bought the others around that time. Also found a NOS stripe kit and see of NOS hood pins that have been hiding for a few decades...

 

[jamespowers]

I just found a box containing 3 NOS 1971 Mustang 4 speed shifter boots! I knew I had one, but totally forgot I had 3! I bought the first one 20 years ago, so I know I must have bought the others around that time. Also found a NOS stripe kit and see of NOS hood pins that have been hiding for a few decades...

Nice! I wouldn't try to use that old stripe kit though.

 

[1mach1]

Nice! I wouldn't try to use that old stripe kit though.

Yeah, it has seen better days. Look like it could use your tie iron.