# found wallet from the 70's **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659 "2007-01-12T03:35:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/81 "2007-01-24T05:03:31Z")
The hunt’s afoot! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/82 "2007-01-24T16:17:45Z")
I’m very interested to see how this turns out, too. Please keep us posted! When my parents put up new wallpaper (I was about 8 at the time), they invited my sisters and me to scrawl all over the walls in pencil before the new paper went up. Boy, did we go to town! Being _invited_ to write on the walls was sheer libertinism for us. 😛 We recently did some work in the crawlspace above our detached garage, built c. 1920, and found some newspapers from 1934, dry and delicate but still legible. You just never know what you might find behind the walls… ---
**Author:** ![MovingTarget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@MovingTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovingTarget)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/83 "2007-01-24T18:36:00Z")
Yes yes… very interesting. Make sure to keep us posted. My own story about things in walls. When I was remodeling a spare bedroom in my house I had to take all of the trim off the walls around the closet. The problem was that the trim only went halfway up on the inside of the closet, leaving a very large gap there. When I took off the trim there was a whole pile of stuff that fell out. Including several wallet sized pictures, some coins, buttons and other small stuff. My guess is that whoever had that room just dropped worthless stuff out of their pockets into the hole. Kinda interesting, but nothing too bad. Then again, I still haven’t managed to explore the whole attic or the crawlspace under the house, and reading this thread is kinda making me wonder if I want to. ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/84 "2007-01-24T18:51:26Z")
OK, more updates. 1 – the person with a different (by 1 letter) spelling of their last name at Graceland University moved to Lamoni, IA. We lost that trail already, but I did find out this person retired from the school and moved away. His wife worked in a local medical center, so I called them and was told that her husband was born in 1942, 11 years after the person we are searching for. 2 – called some #s with the correct spelling of the name in PA. The person I was looking for was dead, but his wife said her late husband was born in the 1921, 10 years BEFORE our subject. So dead ends there. Will try the Amer Legion again in a bit… got to get some work done for my paying job now. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/85 "2007-01-24T18:53:56Z")
My uncle has left a treasure for someone in the future to find. He used to work in construction. While laying bricks, he didn’t want to get mortar on his wedding ring, so he took it off and put it in his shirt’s front pocket. When he got done with the wall, the ring was no longer there. He figures it must have fallen out while he was leaning over the wall. He knows what house his ring is in, but without tearing down four walls, he will probably never find it. Pretty interesting story with the wallet, keep us posted. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/86 "2007-01-24T19:08:34Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] My old “in the wallboards” find, which is relatively common but still weird. I opened up a bathroom wall to find a big pile of hundreds of rusty razor blades at the bottom. Apparantly, old medicine cabinets had a slot cut in them to dispose of your dull razor blades, which then just fell into the wall to be forgotten 🙂 [/QUOTE] Jeez, how do you clean those up? :eek: I keep picturing somebody trying to pick them up by the handful and it’s giving me the heebie-jeebies! ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/87 "2007-01-24T19:28:37Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] My old “in the wallboards” find, which is relatively common but still weird. I opened up a bathroom wall to find a big pile of hundreds of rusty razor blades at the bottom. Apparantly, old medicine cabinets had a slot cut in them to dispose of your dull razor blades, which then just fell into the wall to be forgotten 🙂 [/QUOTE] We had/have one of those in my parents house. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/88 "2007-01-24T19:39:24Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] My old “in the wallboards” find, which is relatively common but still weird. I opened up a bathroom wall to find a big pile of hundreds of rusty razor blades at the bottom. Apparantly, old medicine cabinets had a slot cut in them to dispose of your dull razor blades, which then just fell into the wall to be forgotten 🙂 [/QUOTE] My medicine cabinet (circa 1936) still has that slit, though my blades won’t fit. I wonder how much is in there. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/89 "2007-01-24T19:51:11Z")
[QUOTE=MrSquishy] Jeez, how do you clean those up? :eek: I keep picturing somebody trying to pick them up by the handful and it’s giving me the heebie-jeebies! [/QUOTE] We had a discussion about this once before, but I can’t find it. You’re not going to encounter them until you’re doing a lot of messy work taking out the wall anyway. Disposing of a pile of old razor blades along with the drywall rubble and so on isn’t likely to be a major problem. I suppose the mice might cut up their little feet on them … ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/90 "2007-01-24T20:04:14Z")
[QUOTE=MrSquishy] Jeez, how do you clean those [razor blades] up? :eek: I keep picturing somebody trying to pick them up by the handful and it’s giving me the heebie-jeebies! [/QUOTE] A magnet? No, I suppose not - they’d probably be of non-ferrous steel. I guess put on heavy gloves and be careful. Or maybe use something sticky but cohesive to gather them. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/91 "2007-01-24T20:54:57Z")
I forgot my own personal experiences with this. When **The Surb** and I were cleaning out some crawlspace to run tv cable to my sister’s room, we found a cut up shotgun. The stock is broken and the barrel has been cut off. But it wasn’t cut cleanly. It was as if someone was doing it in a hury. Kinda creepy. We have yet to find the other pieces. We also found some old, old dirty magazines underneath the tub when we replaced it. That was kinda odd. \*Edited because I misspelled my own father’s screen name! ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/92 "2007-01-24T22:19:45Z")
[QUOTE=MrSquishy] Jeez, how do you clean those up? :eek: I keep picturing somebody trying to pick them up by the handful and it’s giving me the heebie-jeebies! [/QUOTE] I’m guessing a dustpan and some rigid object to use for shoveling purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/93 "2007-01-25T00:00:39Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] No, I suppose not - they’d probably be of non-ferrous steel. [/QUOTE] :dubious: Ain’t no such animal. If there’s no “ferrous”, it’s not steel. You probably meant nonmagnetic–there are a few steel alloys, notably stainless steels, which aren’t magnetic. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/94 "2007-01-25T00:49:29Z")
I thought I might have gotten that wrong. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/95 "2007-01-25T03:22:31Z")
Ok, look, I got smacked down at work for internet usage (well, over usage would be more correct) no there’s no frequent doping for me at the present time. C’mon update… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Swede\_Hollow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Swede\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swede_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/96 "2007-01-26T02:14:14Z")
[QUOTE=MrSquishy] Jeez, how do you clean those up? :eek: I keep picturing somebody trying to pick them up by the handful and it’s giving me the heebie-jeebies! [/QUOTE] My house was built in 1950 and has one of those slots in the medicine cabinet. I had to open up part of the wall to do some plumbing and found a decent sized pile of blades. A minute with the wet-dry vac took care of them, no problem. My brother’s previous house was built in the 1870’s and the attic was filled with old “junk” that was used to block up drafts and act as a sort of insulation. Papers, empty jars, the April 4, 1925 “Equal Rights” Suffragette newspaper, leftover building supplies… It was neat finding things like that so when I closed up the hole in my bathroom wall I put a complete Saturday and Sunday newspaper in there for someone to find in the future. I plan on doing the same when I rebuild the kitchen. It may never be found but maybe someone will get a kick out of the ads. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/97 "2007-01-26T02:24:26Z")
[QUOTE=Swede Hollow] I plan on doing the same when I rebuild the kitchen. It may never be found but maybe someone will get a kick out of the ads. [/QUOTE] Or make a couple of bucks on eBay… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/98 "2007-01-26T05:40:52Z")
If you’ve been hiding Jimmy Hoffa all these years, you might want to put him in there, too… ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/99 "2007-01-26T06:59:19Z")
Sigh. Getting frustrating. The info the American Legion sent me was a bunch of websites that’ll look up old military buddies for a fee, the Army liason sent me a similar list, etc. On the list, I can send in a bunch of info (via postal service… no email… talk about outdated) and they’ll get back to me in about 4 weeks. Meantime, I went ahead and scanned in the items in his wallet. Walloon, what’s the best way to get you a copy of the files? Maybe something in there will help. You have an alternate email address I can try? If not, I can use [yousendit.com](http://yousendit.com) and see if their emails actually get through to you… ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/100 "2007-01-26T06:59:51Z")
Count me in as interested, too. I’m on the edge of my seat. My own story: My house was built sometime around 1905. This summer while I was fixing the roof, I decided to tear down one of the wood-stove chimneys because the mortar was basically turning into sand. In several places between the bricks there were piles of 100 year old cigar butts and some that hadn’t been smoked at all. It was interesting to think of the carpenters and masons who smoked those cigars all those years ago when they were building my ancient house, but of course not as interesting as this little wallet adventure we’re all wrapped up in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659.md?page=6)