Fascinating items found in the living room ceiling, part 1

Oooh boy.  Ever since we liberated all the funny things that had been trapped in our entryway ceiling for decades, I've been looking forward to finding more when we tore out the living room ceiling.  I figured since the living room is probably double the square footage, we'd get at least twice as much funny old stuff.  I was soooo right about that.

If I tried to type out everything on all the little slips of paper we found, this post would be ridiculously long, so I strongly encourage you to click on the photos and they will magically appear in a larger window that will hopefully allow you to read them.


 

 We haven't found our million Confederate dollars yet, but our findings are getting more lucrative - this time, we found 12 whole cents, in the form of two Indian head nickels and two wheat pennies.  Also, a necklace made out of thin plastic, what are probably some game pieces, sewing implements, a nail file sheath (?), a metal disc with an unidentifiable purpose (sewing machine part? UFO prototype?), a pearl earring, a busted comb, a red tag with nothing written on it, a bobby pin, a busted comb, and tiny tin of "Pink Polishing Paste."  Yes, the tin does open, and yes, it does still contain pink paste, which is for strengthening your fingernails, according to the back of the tin.

A creepy cartoon - orphan asylum? Yikes!- back and front of Whiz Bang gum, a woman carrying around a beheaded Santa Claus, early Colgate box fragment, a baby filming a movie, something about Uncle Wiggly, and a tag from Coquette stockings - meeeow!

 The top two cartoons here are the backs of the top two cartoons above.  People in fancy 1920's clothes at a party, and an admonishment that the folks at the "Human Hive" that is the Post Office can only do so much on Christmas!  Another gum wrapper, a headless baby (or perhaps a paper doll dress; a "Gypsy Song" by Anita Julien, age 15, of Reno, Nevada; and a "warning" not to "take chances" with "cheap, ordinary baking powder."  Come on, Housewives who bake from recipes!  You can do better than that!  Also, a sewing machine lubricant box and a Christmas tag.

Here we have examples of two items that may have never been reunited had we not torn down our ceiling.  This paper doll dresser was found in two segments, and the baby is actually a separate piece but fit right in the slot that was cut in the bassinet.  Below we have a picture of what we hope/choose to believe is Fred Aubin himself, the first owner of this house and the man whose signature is on the back of most of our woodwork (with occasional appearances by Frank B. Edgerly) The question is, who did he cut out of that picture?

I love this stuff because it's the stuff that would never make it into a museum, but it was all a part of everyday life back in the day.  We've got a few more interesting letters, but I'll save those for another post!