# Any idea what this thing is in my wall? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176 "2025-10-21T22:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176/21 "2025-10-23T14:00:45Z")
You may be able to sell the icebox for a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176/22 "2025-10-23T20:02:50Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > More likely a candlestick phone from before the Depression. Newer niches wouldn’t need to be so tall. Yeah, I did see a photo of a nook like mine with one of those candlestick phones in it (I didn’t know they were called that), and it fit perfectly. They’re bigger than I thought, too. I’ve never seen one up close, only in photos and old movies. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > You may be able to sell the icebox for a lot of money. Yeah, but I’d probably get evicted for that 😃 In any case, it’s built-in, not standalone. We use it to store our laundry soap and such. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176/23 "2025-10-23T20:27:14Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > evicted O.,K., you didn’t mention that you were a renter. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176/24 "2025-10-23T20:41:48Z")
The OP begins with, “I live in an apartment building.” ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176/25 "2025-10-23T20:47:54Z")
O.K., but there are apartment buildings where people own rather than rent their apartments. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176/26 "2025-10-23T21:07:20Z")
In the US, if you own a unit in a multi-family building it’s a condominium or a co-op. The term apartment is used almost exclusively for rented/leased units here. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176/27 "2025-10-23T23:01:42Z")
Unless you live in NYC. Then what the rest of the USA calls a “condo”, they call an “apartment”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-idea-what-this-thing-is-in-my-wall/1024176.md?page=1)