# 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:** 6
**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, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/101 "2007-01-26T07:03:59Z")
LOL. Up to 9,600 views so far. I’m thinking it’s time to just mail the wallet to Cecil and let him take it from here. Or, give up the challenge conditions of doing this for free and pay some site to pull up his address. Damn capitalist motives… ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/102 "2007-01-26T10:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] 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. [/QUOTE] As **QED** said, there’s no such thing as “non-ferrous” steel. But there _is_ such a thing as “non-ferritic” steel! Ferrite is the crystal structure of iron at normal temperatures, and it is magnetic. Austenite is the crystal structure of iron above 1333 deg. F, and it’s non-magnetic. But with sufficient chromium additions, you can stabilise austenite all the way down to room temperature, giving you “austenitic stainless steel” which is non-magnetic, or very slightly magnetic if it retains a little bit of ferrite. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/103 "2007-01-26T12:53:37Z")
[QUOTE=Swede Hollow] 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… [/QUOTE] I hope to Og that you **didn’t** toss em. \*\*Did \*\* you? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody\_Special](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nobody\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody_Special)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/104 "2007-01-26T14:12:58Z")
[QUOTE=filmyak] LOL. Up to 9,600 views so far. I’m thinking it’s time to just mail the wallet to Cecil and let him take it from here. Or, give up the challenge conditions of doing this for free and pay some site to pull up his address. Damn capitalist motives… [/QUOTE] Setup a PayPal account, and I’m sure that a few members will contribute a buck or two to cover the expense. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/105 "2007-01-26T14:17:43Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] Or **Eve** , who knows me, posting in her unsparing honesty that I look like Ewan McGregor and Dylan McDermott had a baby. 🆒 [/QUOTE] How _you_ doin’? 😉 Honestly, the historian in me is dying to know what happens. ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/106 "2007-01-27T00:15:31Z")
Joined [www.veteransearch.com](http://www.veteransearch.com) today. No results. The contact there who helps you out if you need it also ran into a dead end. I’m starting to think this wallet is the most elaborate time-capsule practical joke ever invented. Got a new email address from Walloon, so sending him the scanned files, perhaps there’s something else he can pull from there that I haven’t thought of yet. _shrug_ ---
**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 27, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/107 "2007-01-27T00:52:11Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] I hope to Og that you **didn’t** toss em. \*\*Did \*\* you? [/QUOTE] Nope. We kept pretty much everything, with my brother keeping most of it and me and my other brother getting a few things. I still have: April 4, 1925 “Equal Rights” Suffragette newspaper. 1929 and 1931 “The Uniform Highway Traffic Act” for the State of Minnesota. The remnants (about 70% intact) March 21, 1908 St. Paul Dispatch newspaper with a picture of “The Russian Lion” world wrestling champion on the front page. Several “Parent-Teacher Broadcaster” from 1937 and 1938. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/108 "2007-01-27T02:52:27Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] 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. [/quote] What did you do with the pieces? you might want to take them to the local police. you never know how old a “cold case” file there might be that the gun relates to… [QUOTE=Surbey] We also found some old, old dirty magazines underneath the tub when we replaced it. That was kinda odd. [/QUOTE] Dirty as in filthy? or as in Victorian porn ? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/109 "2007-01-27T05:29:34Z")
[Hot-_cha!_](http://www.skylighters.org/puslideshow/pgslideshow.html)😛 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/110 "2007-01-27T05:49:47Z")
How about calling the local newspaper and see if they’ll run a story? Maybe someone who knew the guy is still in your area. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/111 "2007-01-27T21:00:18Z")
I’m with **Northern Piper** - I would have given that shotgun to the cops. Of course, you could end up with a bunch of 'em in your yard with a backhoe… :eek: I wish we could help with the wallet… but it’s probably not ethical to just post the guy’s info! And I would be so curious to see those scans! You know, **Rico** ’s wife used to do a lot of geneology work, maybe she could access some Mormon databanks for you (they seem to have everything). _Edited for clarity- space bar isn’t working too well…_ ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/112 "2007-01-27T21:10:19Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] You know, **Rico** ’s wife used to do a lot of geneology work, maybe she could access some Mormon databanks for you (they seem to have everything). [/QUOTE] Done that and much more. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/113 "2007-01-28T05:39:21Z")
Quoth **Walloon** : > [@](#): > > [Hot-_cha!_](http://www.skylighters.org/puslideshow/pgslideshow.html)😛 Fascinating… I had always heard that the two-piece swimsuit was named after the Bikini Atoll, site of the first H-bomb test, which was in the news at the time it was invented. But several of those ladies seem to be wearing garments not unlike the bikini, in the early 40s. Did it just take 15 years for the article to get named, or was the apparel of the Police Gazette ladies somehow different from the later bikini? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/114 "2007-01-28T05:53:17Z")
A few years ago I recall using a website to look up Mr Cazzle’s old address in the US and getting the current resident’s name and phone number. I can’t remember where we found that information, but if someone knows and can link to it, perhaps you could use it to look up the neighbors around the address you had. They might know where he’s gone or what happened to him. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/115 "2007-01-28T07:20:32Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Did it just take 15 years for the article to get named, or was the apparel of the Police Gazette ladies somehow different from the later bikini? [/QUOTE] Those ain’t swimsuits - they’re burlesque outfits (essentially lingerie). And those are no ladies! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/116 "2007-01-28T10:47:40Z")
Update: I infer from the pay stubs in the wallet, and the expiration dates on various membership cards, that it was lost circa May 1973, not 1975. The California driver’s license includes a photo. Unfortunately, the most recent address listed for him in the wallet, on his March 1973 fishing license, appears on Google Maps to be an apartment building. I doubt the current tenant, or even the current owner, knows anything about him 34 years later. His height written on his fishing license looked like 5", until I realized he meant 5 [feet] 11 [inches]. (If it was five inches, I was going to recommend looking for him somewhere down around the baseboard inside the wall.) At this point, I recommend you ask for help from: 1. The **Social Security Administration** ’s [Letter Forwarding Service](http://www.ssa.gov/foia/html/ltrfwding.htm). No, this isn’t a “matter of great importance”. But from my experience, they’re less hard asses about forwarding things than their web site avers. 2. The [California Department of Motor Vehicles](http://www.dmv.ca.gov/), which may have a current driver’s license registered for him. 1-800-777-0133 during normal business hours. Maybe don’t mention 1973, just say you found the guy’s wallet, but the address “doesn’t seem to be current”. 3. [California Department of Fish & Game](http://www.dfg.ca.gov/). They may have a current fishing license registered for him. [License & Revenue Branch](http://www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing/) contact info. ---
**Author:** ![jimbeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/858c86/32.png) [@jimbeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbeam)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/117 "2007-01-28T11:13:10Z")
I just found this thread and haven’t read all the way through, I’m at the end of the first page and no one has said it yet, so here goes… did you try the phone book? Hey, my dad asked me to find his old army buddy from Korea a couple of years ago and I found him on a white pages telephone search at yahoo IIRC. Anyway, I’m gonna finish reading the thread now and probably see that someone has already mentioned this idea. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/118 "2007-01-28T11:17:25Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Fascinating… I had always heard that the two-piece swimsuit was named after the Bikini Atoll, site of the first H-bomb test, which was in the news at the time it was invented. [/QUOTE] From a history of the bikini: > [@](#): > > Two piece suits weren’t new. As part of wartime rationing, the U.S. Government, in 1943, ordered a 10 percent reduction in the fabric used in woman’s swimwear. Off went the skirt panel, and out came the bare midriff. At beaches across the country, men paid special attention to women doing their patriotic duty. But [designer Louis] Reard pushed the envelope. He shrunk his suit down to 30 inches of fabric — basically a bra top and two inverted triangles of cloth connected by string — and put the navel on center stage. A [two-piece](http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/biki/ho_2001.790.1a,b.htm) circa 1940, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute (I think **Eve** used to work there). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/119 "2007-01-28T12:13:46Z")
Update: According to tax assessor records, the wallet owner does not own real estate in AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY. (In case you’re counting, that’s the whole U.S.A.) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659/120 "2007-01-28T13:11:40Z")
While we wait … Based on his age, the chance that the wallet owner would appear in the Social Security Death Index if he died in: 1973: 76.6% 1974: 79.1% 1975: 80.2% 1976: 84.5% 1977: 91.3% 1978: 92.4% 1979: 92.2% 1980: 92.0% 1981: 87.4% 1982: 78.4% 1983: 77.6% 1984: 76.8% 1985: 76.4% 1986: 85.6% 1987: 65.1% 1988: 61.7% 1989: 59.9% 1990: 57.7% 1991: 58.7% 1992: 69.9% 1993: 76.3% 1994: 77.7% 1995: 78.3% 1996: 94.9% 1997: 95.4% [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/found-wallet-from-the-70s/387659.md?page=7)