What odd things have you found in an attic (or barb or basement)

[greybeard]

Was poking around the attic of this house and saw this. At first, wondered "Who the heck would climb up and hang clothes in a hot as hades Central Texas attic?"
Then realized, after looking around at all the romex, phone lines and data lines strung all over up there and realized it was left over from initial construction. Lots easier to unspool romex from up there and pull it DOWN the wall than pull it Up walls and across the attic floor.



There was another one that I didn't take a picture of but I brought both 1 1/2" wooden rods down. only other usable things I found were 2 or 3 metal bed frames. The more recent kind with rollers, not the old antique bed frames.

 

[Ky hills]

When we had a paint store downtown, we rented the downstairs part of the building. Like a lot of the buildings down there then they were in a poor state of repair and the handful of men that owned the majority of the buildings wouldn't do any repairs or allow the tenant businesses to do much either. At one point there was talk of the building we were renting being sold, so myself and an employee went up to look at the upstairs part. It was a pigeon boneyard. The entire floor was covered in pigeon skeletons. Lots of serious repairs needed. Did not consider buying it any further.
They've been trying to repair some of the buildings, but many are still trashy looking, My saying is whenever I go downtown now and see people working on the building facades, well they're putting lipstick on a pig.

 

[greybeard]

And now we know where old pigeons go to die...

 

[M.Magis]

A friend was doing a renovation in his home, an old farm house. When they pulled the old slats off of one wall to replace with drywall they found a pigs jaw bone. I really can't even come up with a reason it would have been placed there.
I watched a home renovation show once where they removed an old wall and there was a rat skeleton hanging by it's teeth on an electrical wire.

 

[TCRanch]

Wish I would have taken a pic, but I was horrified when I recently cleaned out my mother in laws house and there was a freakin' giant lizard skeleton still clinging to the lace curtains in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Da hell???? Wasn't sure what to do with too much information in her bathroom & medicine cabinet, so I immediately grabbed a trash bag (black, heavy-duty) and savored my lukewarm glass of wine in that dry county. It was all bad.

 

[BFE]

Was poking around the attic of this house and saw this. At first, wondered "Who the heck would climb up and hang clothes in a hot as hades Central Texas attic?"
Then realized, after looking around at all the romex, phone lines and data lines strung all over up there and realized it was left over from initial construction. Lots easier to unspool romex from up there and pull it DOWN the wall than pull it Up walls and across the attic floor.

View attachment 20894View attachment 20895

There was another one that I didn't take a picture of but I brought both 1 1/2" wooden rods down. only other usable things I found were 2 or 3 metal bed frames. The more recent kind with rollers, not the old antique bed frames.

Is that above a porch? I know you don't get cold down there, but do they not insulate houses in Texas? It would help keep the cool in as well.

 

[BFE]

Didn't think to take a picture but was working at a fine old house with another contractor. I went to find him and opened the door on an old brick cold storage room (I assume) and flipped on the light. There sat a couple of human skeletons, real or not I didn't check, dressed up sitting in chairs, it was decorated like a lounging room or something! The owner is a circuit judge.

The other contractor had worked there many times and had seen it before, but like me had no clue what the hell was going on with it.

 

[Mrcopier]

Is that above a porch? I know you don't get cold down there, but do they not insulate houses in Texas? It would help keep the cool in as well.

Yes we do

 

[Redgully]

Well not so much found but retrieved. There was a big old feral tom cat hanging around our place. He was terrorising the place so one day i waited for him gun in hand. At about 30 meters pinged him. He took off straight under the house making a hell of a noise. All went quiet so i had to crawl in and get him out. It was so tight i had to put my head sideway to fit, just when i got to him thought i heard him growl, i can tell you when wedged in that hard it is not a great place to panic! Turns out it was my jacket scraping some tin. Managed to grab his tail and drag him out, bullet had gone straight through his heart. Bloody tough bugger, was just a mass of muscle and scars.

 

[Warren Allison]

I was about 4 years old when my great-grandmother on my mother's side died. My grandfather took me over to the old home place, where all of his family was meeting to see what each wanted or what they were going to put in the estate sale. I remember one of my grandpa's brothers pulled this old cigar box looking thing out, and opened it up. They all said " We wondered where this had gone...been years since we saw it". It was full of these black things that looked like some kind of dried fruit or jerky or something. Turns out it was a box full of dried Yankee ears. This was in 1961, so they were 100 yrs old. My great-great grandfather and his brothers had all ridden in mercenary ranger units that fought for the Confederacy. after I started school, I would ask my grandfather and grandmother questions about those heroes that were my ancestors, and about those ears in particular. There were 5 brothers and a Comanche that rode with them. When they heard about Sherman's scorched-earth invasion, they hauled ass as fast as they could from Missouri. with a string of horses. They saw the smoke from their homeplace from miles away as they rode toward home. When they got there, all the bui8ldings were on fire, the woman and children were found dead inside the burned main house, along with the Negro women and children that lived on the place, They surrounded by 5 of the Negro hands that were left to work the place when the boys went to war. They had fought with farm implements and machetes trying to protect these women and kids. The brothers and the Comanche took off on the trail riding a horse and leading two. They would change to a fresh horse without ever slowing down. They caught up with the Yankee murderers about 15 miles from the place, though the Yankees had nearly a day head start The Yankees were herding the cows and mules they had stolen, and driving a couple of wagons with pigs and chickens they stole, and their dead and wounded ( those Negro men that tried to protect the women and children by standing between them and the Yankees sold their lives dearly, fighting without guns) . They think there 20 left in that raiding party when my men caught them, as there 39 ears in the box. I wish my grandfather had been the one to get that box. I got to asking family about 30 years ago who ended up with it, but no one left remembers. Or just ain't saying.

 

[greybeard]

Is that above a porch? I know you don't get cold down there, but do they not insulate houses in Texas? It would help keep the cool in as well.

Above the garage.

 

[Redgully]

I was about 4 years old when my great-grandmother on my mother's side died. My grandfather took me over to the old home place, where all of his family was meeting to see what each wanted or what they were going to put in the estate sale. I remember one of my grandpa's brothers pulled this old cigar box looking thing out, and opened it up. They all said " We wondered where this had gone...been years since we saw it". It was full of these black things that looked like some kind of dried fruit or jerky or something. Turns out it was a box full of dried Yankee ears. This was in 1961, so they were 100 yrs old. My great-great grandfather and his brothers had all ridden in mercenary ranger units that fought for the Confederacy. after I started school, I would ask my grandfather and grandmother questions about those heroes that were my ancestors, and about those ears in particular. There were 5 brothers and a Comanche that rode with them. When they heard about Sherman's scorched-earth invasion, they hauled ass as fast as they could from Missouri. with a string of horses. They saw the smoke from their homeplace from miles away as they rode toward home. When they got there, all the bui8ldings were on fire, the woman and children were found dead inside the burned main house, along with the Negro women and children that lived on the place, They surrounded by 5 of the Negro hands that were left to work the place when the boys went to war. They had fought with farm implements and machetes trying to protect these women and kids. The brothers and the Comanche took off on the trail riding a horse and leading two. They would change to a fresh horse without ever slowing down. They caught up with the Yankee murderers about 15 miles from the place, though the Yankees had nearly a day head start The Yankees were herding the cows and mules they had stolen, and driving a couple of wagons with pigs and chickens they stole, and their dead and wounded ( those Negro men that tried to protect the women and children by standing between them and the Yankees sold their lives dearly, fighting without guns) . They think there 20 left in that raiding party when my men caught them, as there 39 ears in the box. I wish my grandfather had been the one to get that box. I got to asking family about 30 years ago who ended up with it, but no one left remembers. Or just ain't saying.

Incredible story, it was another time back then wasn't it. Personally i would like to see the box but not sure I'd want to own it! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ouachita]

My first thought was that somebody rolled them up and smoked them, while listening to Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg.

 

[Ouachita]

 

[Warren Allison]

Incredible story, it was another time back then wasn't it. Personally i would like to see the box but not sure I'd want to own it! Thanks for sharing.

It was for sure a different time back then. America in the 19th century has a lot to be ashamed of. From the removal of the Cherokee in the 1830's to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 (the biggest mass shooting EVER in America) the attempted genocide of Native Americans makes the Holocost, Sadamm Hussein's genocide of the Kurds, Pol Pot's Killing fields, etc. look like nothing. And the rape and pillage of the south during Reconstruction is something else that is being scrubbed by the revisionist trying to re-write history. You can not find anything using Google about Lincoln's Executive Order to exterminate all males over 14 in Missouri, that Grant used when president to model his EO calling for the same thing to be done to members of "hostile tribes". If public schools even teach American history anymore, they will try to say the Civil War had something to do with slavery! And you can NOT find out anything about Reconstruction except a sentence or two about the Klan and Jim Crowe laws. Starting back in the 70's we saw American movies and documentaries come out that did accurately depict the horrors inflicted on both the Native Americans and the south. You still see the same regarding the Native Americans, but no more about the truth of the War of Northern Aggression. The last 10 years or so, the revisionists here have started false narratives about the heroes of that war, and are demanding that Confederate staues and memorials be torn down, Hell, it has gotten so bad that the Confederate flag was banned from NASCAR events a few years back! That is why the stands are empty these days.

If I could find that box, I'd make a necklace of those ears and wear it proudly!

 

[CowboyRam]

I once found a couple adult magazines up in the ceiling of the West Theater in Craig Colorado when dad was remodeling theater. Pretty cool find for a teenager. It took several years to get it remodeled, as they would work until they ran out of money, and then the work would stop until the owners gave them more. One of the owners was really shifty, and dad didn't trust him, so he would get money up front before any work would proceed. Once finished we got a private showing of Star Trek Voyage Home, and Crocodile Dundee. Probably the only time I will ever be able to drink a beer in a theater while watching a movie.

 

[Redgully]

It was for sure a different time back then. America in the 19th century has a lot to be ashamed of. From the removal of the Cherokee in the 1830's to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 (the biggest mass shooting EVER in America) the attempted genocide of Native Americans makes the Holocost, Sadamm Hussein's genocide of the Kurds, Pol Pot's Killing fields, etc. look like nothing. And the rape and pillage of the south during Reconstruction is something else that is being scrubbed by the revisionist trying to re-write history. You can not find anything using Google about Lincoln's Executive Order to exterminate all males over 14 in Missouri, that Grant used when president to model his EO calling for the same thing to be done to members of "hostile tribes". If public schools even teach American history anymore, they will try to say the Civil War had something to do with slavery! And you can NOT find out anything about Reconstruction except a sentence or two about the Klan and Jim Crowe laws. Starting back in the 70's we saw American movies and documentaries come out that did accurately depict the horrors inflicted on both the Native Americans and the south. You still see the same regarding the Native Americans, but no more about the truth of the War of Northern Aggression. The last 10 years or so, the revisionists here have started false narratives about the heroes of that war, and are demanding that Confederate staues and memorials be torn down, Hell, it has gotten so bad that the Confederate flag was banned from NASCAR events a few years back! That is why the stands are empty these days.

If I could find that box, I'd make a necklace of those ears and wear it proudly!

Here in Australia a lot of awareness is now coming out on how the aborigines were treated by the first settlers. Problem is they are judging people from history by todays standards. Seems to be the time we live in.

 

[Rafter S]

I once found a couple adult magazines up in the ceiling of the West Theater in Craig Colorado when dad was remodeling theater. Pretty cool find for a teenager. It took several years to get it remodeled, as they would work until they ran out of money, and then the work would stop until the owners gave them more. One of the owners was really shifty, and dad didn't trust him, so he would get money up front before any work would proceed. Once finished we got a private showing of Star Trek Voyage Home, and Crocodile Dundee. Probably the only time I will ever be able to drink a beer in a theater while watching a movie.

About 40 years ago there was a time or two I'd go to a movie at the local theater and be the only paying customer. They'd go ahead and show it anyway. I'd sit right in the middle of the theater, and the people working the concession stand would sit in the back row and watch it too.

 

[1982vett]

About 40 years ago there was a time or two I'd go to a movie at the local theater and be the only paying customer. They'd go ahead and show it anyway. I'd sit right in the middle of the theater, and the people working the concession stand would sit in the back row and watch it too.

If you got to an early morning show at the Cinemark in College Station, it isn't all that uncommon for the wife and I to be 2 of 3 or 4 at the showing.
CowboyRam, don't understand why you don't think you ever have a beer in a theater again. A lot of theaters serve here.

 

[CowboyRam]

If you got to an early morning show at the Cinemark in College Station, it isn't all that uncommon for the wife and I to be 2 of 3 or 4 at the showing.
CowboyRam, don't understand why you don't think you ever have a beer in a theater again. A lot of theaters serve here.

None that I have been to in Colorado, or Wyoming serve beer.