From Lost Diaries To Hidden Passages, Here Are 48 Astonishing Finds Within Old Homes

tectuma
Could be for leprechauns or gnomes... I still would not leave any food out.

Same-Gear-4978
Not sure if milk doors were still a thing in the 50s, but potentially that?

sugar-magnolia
it leads to John Malkovichs brain

Text: “I was discharged from work on this house by McBride the Bulldog for being drunk only once, when he is drunk all the time. Carpenter Smith, Plymouth March 27, 1888”

I've been doing some restoration and playing lots of wall chicken and window lottery. I didn't have a lot of hope for the bricked over windows.

I’m an electrician and carpenter so I was updating the knob and tube when I found some original trim behind one of the device boxes.
SECRET CLOSET! Unfortunately the most valuable thing found is the extra storage space. Still a win for today!

I’m not sure how old it is, but it was a cool find. My grandparents moved into a nursing home and assisted living. Going through their stuff before we auction the house and items. Ignore the nails, I didn’t have much time to redo them.

Found these in the attic today while getting some renovations done. Some have all the game pieces, so may still be in a bag/box that I have to finish going through. No idea of value, happy to learn anything about them that you all may know.

I've found very similar looking watches online around the 1920's. There are two markings, one seems to read 156 and the other maybe E 791.

This is the feature I’m most excited about in my new home! It’s a little damaged in the corners because of the radiator pipe but overall it’s so much better than the drop ceiling. Sadly I did lose the flooring lotto - the planks (under plywood, under vinyl, under carpet) are too thin to serve as an actual floor.

Found while cleaning out an old house. It looks like it was maybe buried based on the state of the bottom half. It is entirely metal. I didn’t get a picture of the threads but they seem to start where it’s not rusted/decayed.

nitro479
Looks like an artillery shell detonator. Set it down gently and notify the authorities. Cue the EOD bot.

I recently uncovered an antique Columbia grafonola in my late grandmother's garage. The item was originally owned by my great-great grandfather Jacob E. Pierce. He used to be a wealthy newspaper owner in Huntsville, Alabama before the Great Depression and owned the locally infamous wedding cake mansion. The item stands at about 3 ft. tall and features textured floral designs, a vinyl rack, a built-in speaker/horn, and elaborately carved wooden legs, two of which have broken off. During the economic crisis, my great aunt took the grafonola. Upon her death, my grandma ended up with it in the late 90s and brought it down to Florida. Now that my grandmother has passed, I now have it. These are the facts as I know them, what I don't know is, if it really is 1 of 2 in the world and if it's sister was ever in the White House, it's only hearsay passed down from my grandma, to my uncle, to me. From the research I've done, I've come up empty handed. I can't find an archive detailing all of the antiques in the White House. That being said, I can't find any other grafonolas of the same model. If nothing else, that means it's either pretty rare or a really nice commission. Is the family legend true? What should I do about this antique given its less than pristine condition?

Found these coins in a Michigan basement (stone wall), when I was remodeling my 1890’s farmhouse. The newest coins are from 1941. I counted 174 brand new 50 cent coins. Next day I went back to digging and another Jar popped out of the wall. This one had 10, $5 gold coins, 2, $2 1/2 coins, and one $1 coin. My pictures aren’t the best, and I might send some of better ones off for grading. Any idea what they are worth? (eBay prices are all over the place)

I removed the old carpet and 8 gazillion staples and nails. Every other riser has hand painted PA Dutch folk art. I'm going to see if I can get down to nice wood on the treads and touch up the painted risers. This is in my old restored Barn outside Philadelphia. It was built in the 1740s and converted into a house some time in the 1940s. There are at least 4 layers of paint on the treads. But the steps are really beat up. If I can't get down to good bare wood, I may paint them again. I tried citrus strip, you can see areas on the bottom two steps. Took a lot to get to that, not ideal. I ordered a craftsman IR paint remover. Just waiting for it to ship. I'm the meantime I am using carbide scraper on the stringers and will paint those up with a matching ivory color. The folk art isn't really my style, but it's beautiful and someone really took a lot of time and care to paint it. I feel I owe it to the house to try to restore it and put it on display. It will be the first thing you see when you walk into my house. Am I crazy? Do you like it? Any advice on the approach if I'm not heading in the right direction? If I have to paint the treads, thoughts on color? I'll also paint ( or maybe wallpaper) the walls. I welcome design thoughts on that too.

Crying happy tears today because:
WE WON THE FLOOR LOTTERY! Pulled up the ugly, cracked tile in the bathroom and found the original hex tile in great condition underneath 😭😭😭. I’m ecstatic!

Notable other attic finds from previous owners: some lovely mountain dew green carpet, a shotgun bullet press, and a functioning 10" CRT.

Our family’s 1920 cottage has had this extinguisher on the wall for decades. According to some Googling: “In 1900, the Red Comet fire extinguisher was a glass sphere filled with CTC, or Carbon tetrachloride. Early Red Comets used salt-water, but CTC was more effective. Firefighters hurled the Red Comet at the base of a fire to extinguish the flames. Carbon tetrachloride was suitable for liquid and electrical fires and the extinguishers were fitted to motor vehicles. Carbon tetrachloride extinguishers were withdrawn in the 1950s because of the chemical's toxicity. Exposure to high concentrations caused damage the nervous system and internal organs. Additionally, when used on a fire, the heat converted CTC to phosgene gas, formerly used as a chemical weapon.” At least there’s no asbestos in the place…

I would love to know the part number of these without taking them off and looking on the rear side. My Google lens results aren’t returning the correct type although I am getting a rough indication of date. Also, I think it would be wonderful to have a transfer wear sub on Reddit if anybody fancies setting one up. I can imagine these tiles can be very addictive to collectors .

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