so THAT's where my mail ends up. . .

[Vanessa]

Aren't they like twinkies with a shelf life of 100 years?

 

[jamespowers]

You think that is bad? My mother had a piece of my grandmother's fruitcake/wedding cake from 1916. In fact, I still have it somewhere. The dang thing still probably tastes the same. I have to check and see if I can find it in her house somewhere.

Regards,

J

 

[John in Covina]

yeeech! Proteins, carbohydrates and sugars can oxidize and oils go racid so don't try it, please!

If it had been placed in a vacuum and then packed in a sealed container with a bed of non reactive Nitrogen gas, it could still be good.

 

[jamespowers]

yeeech! Proteins, carbohydrates and sugars can oxidize and oils go racid so don't try it, please!

If it had been placed in a vacuum and then packed in a sealed container with a bed of non reactive Nitrogen gas, it could still be good.

Oh, believe me, if I find it I am not going to eat it. I would probably get drunk from the fruit in it anyway.
I suppose it would make an interesting doorstop though. Paperweight?

Regards,

J

 

[Story]

Aren't they like twinkies with a shelf life of 100 years?

I think Twinkies are made of the same basic material as Bakelite, just cooked at a different temperature.

And from this time last year, one heck of a find -

THE BEAT: SOUTH & SOUTHWEST
AROUND SOUTH COOK AND WILL COUNTIES

If walls could talk, secret of past might be revealed
Published April 17, 2005

LOCKPORT TOWNSHIP -- The house that Andrew Mayes of Lockport recently bought turned out to be a bit like a box of Cracker Jack: It had a surprise inside.

The surprise was secreted behind a wall in a closet Mayes was knocking out while rehabbing the home in the 200 block of Reverend Walton Drive in unincorporated Lockport Township, police said.

There, in an old gunnysack, was a 1928 A1 Thompson submachine gun, a version of the repeating rifle favored by gangsters and G-men alike during the Roaring '20s.

Seven boxes of ammunition were found alongside the "Tommy Gun," which was said to be in pristine condition.

"It's similar, but it's not exactly the same as the gangsters used [in the movies]," said Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas, who noted that police and officials with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will try to trace the gun to an owner.

The find presents intriguing possibilities, Kaupas conceded. Was the house a rural hideout for some of Capone's boys?

Not likely.

"We traced the residents and the house, and there were no known gangsters who lived there," Kaupas said.

But who knows? The guns, precursors to similar weapons used by the military, also could be purchased by civilians for recreational use or protection, Kaupas said.

"We're going to try to trace the weapon through the sales number and see if it goes back to the military," he said.

Another clue as to who owned the gun could come from a receipt that says the ammunition was purchased June 15, 1940, said sheriff's spokesman Pat Barry.

Attempts to reach Mayes, who turned in the weapon Tuesday, were unsuccessful. Kaupas praised Mayes for reporting the find to police.

Barry put the gun's value at about $10,000. But the law limits the ability to sell the gun to a collector or a museum. Kaupas said state law prohibits civilians from owning automatic weapons, and federal law says the gun may have to be destroyed.

The age of the gun also makes tracing it a challenge because information about it is likely contained on paper records.

"Because the gun's so old, a lot of this stuff will have to be hand-checked," Barry said.

For now, the gun will remain in the sheriff's police armory, where a few similar weapons are stored.

Meanwhile, the mystery remains.

"It could have been used for self-protection, but why was it hidden in the wall?" Kaupas wondered.

Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune

 

[Michaelson]

Just a technical correction, private civilians CAN own automatic weapons such as this old Thompson if they have a Class III license obtained from the BATF. It's expensive, and has to be renewed annually, but a lot of folks do that, so it's a shame that this old relic from a bygone era that is in such great shape will more than likely be destroyed rather than ending up in a collection or museum.
Of course, this being in Illinois, the State laws derail that possibility, and it's not worth fighting in federal court to get an injunction against it's destruction. Ah well.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[jamespowers]

I know it might be technically wrong but if I found it in my wall, it would never see the light of day in a police station. Can you say addition to a collection for freeeee? That and mine! Mine! Mine!

Regards,

J

 

[Marc Chevalier]

You think that is bad? My mother had a piece of my grandmother's fruitcake/wedding cake from 1916.

A few years ago, a dessicated piece of the Duke of Windsor's wedding cake was sold at auction. It fetched $ 29,000. The Duke married Wallis Simpson in 1937!


.

 

[jamespowers]

A few years ago, a dessicated piece of the Duke of Windsor's wedding cake was sold at auction. It fetched $ 29,000. The Duke married Wallis Simpson in 1937!


.

Gee, how much is mine worth then?

Regards,

J