History in the Attic
Amazing. Haunting. The photo was taken at the end of the Civil War, so the children might have been recently freed (one can hope) but there was also documentation of one of the boy's names (John) and his price ($1150). This sort of photo is very rare and really brings to life the heartbreak of a sad time in American history. But it got me thinking about the kind of history I have found in old houses. In the first home my husband and I bought (a vintage 1888 Eastlake cottage), we found things that had been lost or hidden for 100 years---like Dr. Whitaker's Medicinal Elixir---cured chilblains, melancholia, diarrhea, boils and sore throats, circa 1898) and Civil War photos (behind the mantle). In the crawlspace I found a life-sized poster of John Wayne and under the brick sidewalk, a stash of 100 year old ceramic beer bottle caps, with the brewer's stamp still readable. A friend of mine just found her great-grandmother's ostrich opera fan (circa 1900, Paris) and is ecstati...