I remember finding loose panels in the rental house we moved into in fourth grade. I was playing in the basement with my sister when we moved some panels aside in the wood-paneled wall. There were stacks of jewelry boxes in there like the cardboard kind you get at Macy’s when you buy earrings. Every one of the dozen or so boxes we found in there held hamster/gerbil poop! Behind the boxes was what appeared to be human poop . . . just laying there on the floor!! I get the heaves just thinking about it now. My mom swept it all up and the landlord opted to not contact the previous owners to see if they wanted their lost items.
Moved into a student rental house. It was sparsely furnished with the minimum requirements - beds and wardrobes in the bedrooms, a couch and a few chairs in the living room.
And in the hallway: a gong, hanging on a gong stand, complete with mallet.
There’s a large (I’m guessing 8x10) rug in the attic of my parents house. It’s covered with insullation and all of the crap they store up there. I’ve always wondered if it is/was anything special.
Also there was a poster from 1959 trapped in the wall behind my closet door (pocket door). We got the poster out one day when I was about 15. It had space shuttles and some pretty cool stuff on it. Drawings I wouldn’t have expected from 1959.
I’m always fascinated by the stories of things people find in their homes.
When my parents first bought our house, there was a safe in one of the closets. They had a locksmith open it up, and inside were two solid gold partial plates! Ew… old man mouth.
When we bought a house a few years ago, there was an old metal shed connected to the garage. When we decided to tear down the shed years later, we found an old letter in Italian folded up and stuffed behind one of the studs. Not understanding Italian, the only thing I could figure out was something about “amore”… It seemed it was a love letter.
The people who had owned the house for 50 years were Italian, and they had three kids, so it could have been any of them I guess. I hate to say I’m not sure where that letter is any more… although it’s here somewhere… Maybe someone will find it in our house some day.
We also found an old campaign sign for one of the kids who had grown up to become mayor of the town. When we bought the house he was a sweet old guy who couldn’t hear well any more… He used to stop by and say hi on occasion. Unfortunately, he died just last year.
Just before we moved in, we stopped at a garage sale that the “kids” were having at the house… We bought a huge old 1950’s Motorola TV/Record player that had been in the living room since the 50’s… When we moved to Canada last June, it came with us… so part of them is still with us.
They also left us their phone number, which had been with that house since the 50’s… We occasionally got calls from friends looking for the former owners for at least 8 years after we owned the house.
The people who called were invariably wonderful to talk with, and when we would tell them that we kept the number with the house, seemed genuinely happy. We kept a pad with all the kids’ phone numbers by the phone for years.
Just writing this reminds me why I have always bought old houses. I love the spirit and memories that come with them!