We have been in planning mode for a few weeks -- we're at a juncture where the messy and satisfying manual labor of demolition is largely complete, and now we need to finalize some of our design and assembly choices that trickle down to influence some of the plumbing and foundation work that we need to do next.
The result is that we've been doing a lot of thinking, sketching, researching, and getting input from different friend-experts and contractor-experts -- so we haven't benefited from the endorphins that visible progress provides... ah, well! We'll share more updates on our process and plans later. In the meantime, we wanted to share a few more artifacts that we found during the demolition process!
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Throughout the house, newspapers had been stuffed into cracks over the years to prevent drafts. The first of the newspapers we found capture one of the most incredible historical moments that we could have imagined -- this paper from April 29, 1939 (just about 5 months before the start of WWII) describes reactions to Hitler's speeches, and documents nations' decisions on whether to join forces with him.
Check out this picture of a family modeling different styles of gas masks -- including one that is design to fit over the heads of both a mother and child.
Less momentous than the pre-WWII newspapers, we also found these articles from 1953, in which Captain Ramsey predicts the importance of workplace culture: "A happy ship is an efficient ship." I found a digitized version of the paper is on newspapers.com.
A window in the social lives of St. Louisans in the 1950s...
As well as listings for what's on the radio -- I noticed "Ask Me Another" will be playing (wondering if this is a precursor to the modern Ask Me Another that Ophira Eisenberg now hosts??) as well as some Rosh Hashonah programming.
And some commentary from "My Neighbor Says," particularly quotable: "Dealing with Communists is about the most precarious transaction we can think of, next to buying something at wholesale from a relative."
As a break from newspapers, here are a few little toys that we found in a little cavity in the stair wall below the bathroom -- presumably stashed there by a child, dropped down some sort of gap in the bathroom floor. A secret hiding place for these valuable treasures.
I imagine this monkey might have been a part of the collection as well.
A message from Geo to Dave, whoever they are: this hole ok.
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