50 Chilling Discoveries Made Inside Old Abandoned Houses

Was for the "calling cards" I.em the cards everybody carried around to give to the butler to announce their visit.

Boot scraper

Window openers, sometimes they were used to open the transom above the old doors

You can sit down and take your shoes and boots off, after hanging up your coat and hat Those were the days

People put them in for their cats to be able to get to the cat box and other areas of the house without the heat, leaving the room. They want the door closed and the heat in

those would be musket balls. You can see the powder burn in some top ones

It used to be an old cistern with water in it. Lotta old houses have them.

Yes we had one for our cellar, to tell us the light were on downstairs.

It warms things. That's pretty much it.

It's a driveway with steps between the tire treads. Used to see that quite a bit.

It’s a damper for an old gravity furnace. I’d remove it, clean it up, polish it and reinstall it. It would be a lovely talking point! I’ll bet it’s a beautiful brass piece.

for a chandelier so you can lower it for repair and cleaning

These are Witches Stairs. Supposedly Witches couldn't climb these types of stairs.

These double edge razor blades were found in the bathroom wall. Way back when, the medicine cabinets had a slot in back. It was purposely put there to dispose the old blades which just fell into the wall.

For shooting rifles through

An old glass fire extinguisher filled with Carbon Tetrachloride. Very dangerous.

Old tie holder.

In the 1970s they were called valets—men hung their suit jackets on them when they came home from work and put their pocket contents in the little tray.

Digby Lock-Up, also known as the Pepperpot, located in Digby, Lincolnshire. It is a Grade II listed building with historical significance. Originally a 17th-century wellhead, it is made of limestone and stands 2 meters high. It may have been used as a lock-up for petty criminals or drunks, especially during the Napoleonic Wars.

Witches window. They believed witches couldn't turn and fly through them when they were opened.

Old wood stove plate lifter

My Grandparents had a wheel with a sprocket on it on 1st floor. Sprocket had a chain that went thru floor to stoker in the basement. Turning the wheel caused coal to be fed to the stoker which increased the heat fed up thru floor registers warming the home.

It is a hole to allow heat to pass from 1st floor to 2nd floor. I have one in my bedroom of my 200 year old house.

Antique door knocker.

It's a Laundry tub

Old door chimes

This little device was a grocery list checker. Dates back to the 1920s and people kept it on the kitchen. Probably why these are found during kitchen renovations.

My old house in Utah had one for releasing coal down the chute

Old wine cellar of a long gone house

Often, when a house was being built, a family moving into the house would hide shoes in different places. There were children's shoes on the walls of the children's rooms, women's shoes next to the fireplaces and kitchens. Men's shoes were hidden in the attic. The purpose of these was to bring good luck to the house and drive away evil spirits.

Canning top. You can mark what you have canned.

That is 100% for a Bracketed Kerosene Lamp

For sterilizing preserving jars and bottles

This is a Goffering Iron that was used to put ruffles in clothing

An old razor sharpener

We had one on our milk crate/ metal cooler left at the door. Its to let dairy delivery person know what you needed

Air flow for old furnace

it was probably used for used oil. Back then you changed your own oil and disposed of it on your own. This hole would allow the oil to seep into the ground and it would go bye bye

This is an A & B phone. You put in your dime and made the call. If they didn't answer you got your money back. Otherwise your money got deposited and you could continue your call

Dumb waiter or laundry chute

Oil tank vents, it was common to have them barred in the yard to save on space in the basement.

If it’s in a very large home could it be a communications center for bells to call servants?

Coal heater.

A Victorian era wooden toilet

I'm thinking it was a cover for a latch on a pocket door

This is an antique fireplace spit. My understanding is that most old homes had these and were used for cooking.

I think that is a receptacle for a Toa intercom station. Early versions had 4 pins; later versions had 2 pins.