# Rosemary's Baby-like Mystery **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 21, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061 "2014-08-21T02:42:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/121 "2014-08-22T22:08:02Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Well, dammit. I was going to beg you to hit redial. > > What’s the table like? Heptagonal top, myrtlewood (I think) column. Really good condition. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/122 "2014-08-22T22:09:29Z")
Schrödinger’s cat ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/123 "2014-08-22T22:37:24Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Schrödinger’s cat No cats, but there is a yellow box with some sort of [fan](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Radiation_warning_symbol.svg/600px-Radiation_warning_symbol.svg.png) painted on it. Should I open it? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/124 "2014-08-22T22:41:24Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > No cats, but there is a yellow box with some sort of [fan](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Radiation_warning_symbol.svg/600px-Radiation_warning_symbol.svg.png) painted on it. Should I open it? By all means. Let us know how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/125 "2014-08-22T22:42:28Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > The purpose of the space does seem to be basement access–not a staircase, but a ladder–no ladder though, just a hatch into my ceiling. You occasionally see a pull-down ladder behind a ceiling hatch for access to an attic, but I’ve never heard of one connecting to a basement. “hatch” suggests “laundry chute” or “dumb waiter” to me – 3’ x 6’ would be the kind of space you’d need for one of those, plus a place to stand to use it. I have seen those in single-family homes from c. 1900. Alternatively, the space could have been originally part of a staircase area, and partitioned to your mystery space and the laundry closet that you previously said backs it. > [@](#): > > Inside was a really nice pedestal table and a touch-tone phone. If little-used, such a facility might have been converted to a telephone cabinet (very commonly enclosed spaces when household phones were new), which could have survived to, say, touch-tone phone times. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/126 "2014-08-23T01:58:57Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Is it possible there was once a dumbwaiter, or something, and the phone is internal-- that is, it’s a hook-up for inside the house, but you can’t dial out? > > … Wait! Are you saying the call was coming from insider the house?!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/127 "2014-08-23T02:05:01Z")
I still believe that it is a laundry chute. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/128 "2014-08-23T02:06:35Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > No cats, but there is a yellow box with some sort of [fan](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Radiation_warning_symbol.svg/600px-Radiation_warning_symbol.svg.png) painted on it. Should I open it? Post while you are opening it. Just in case. 🙂 This forum requires that you wait 60 seconds between posts. Please try again in 1 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/129 "2014-08-23T02:24:01Z")
Those are some interesting visuals you’re bringing to mind. Any chance you could post photos of the room online somewhere, maybe when this is all settled? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/130 "2014-08-24T12:24:59Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > That’s what you think _now_. One day, it will ring. “Wha…? The table…?” 🙂🙂🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/131 "2014-08-24T12:37:24Z")
So, it’s a 1970’s-style safe room? ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/132 "2014-08-24T12:46:31Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I still believe that it is a laundry chute. I get the sense that the OP isn’t in the US, and I think laundry chutes in homes are very much a US thing. I’d never even heard of them till someone sent my kid a copy of _Good Dog, Carl_ (in which the dog babysitter helps the baby slide down the laundry chute). ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/133 "2014-08-24T14:02:50Z")
I’m a little confused about the layout. There’s some kind of opening into a subbasement below you and also a hatch in the ceiling? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/134 "2014-08-24T14:23:59Z")
No, he’s in the basement and the hatch goes up to the 1st floor (ground floor, since he’s in the UK). ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/135 "2014-08-24T16:20:48Z")
So the hatch may lead to the apartment upstairs? Could the upstairs residents have been using the space as a storage area? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/136 "2014-08-24T17:29:25Z")
I know what it is! You know the saying, “They say that…” which introduces some sort of rumour, factoid, or gossip? Well, ‘they’ have to operate from _somewhere_, right? A nook with a table and phone is perfect for a rumourmonger to sit. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/137 "2014-08-24T17:35:21Z")
Anyone see the TV movie “Bad Ronald”? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/138 "2014-08-24T17:49:01Z")
yeah get Geraldo. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/139 "2014-08-24T18:16:56Z")
Trapdoor in the ceiling but no ladder? How well do you know the people upstairs? “It answers the phone or it gets the hose…” ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/140 "2014-08-24T20:30:59Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Anyone see the TV movie “Bad Ronald”? Yes. What was Kim Hunter thinking? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061.md?page=8)