A man was stunned to find a time capsule from over 100 years ago in the ceiling of his home – which contained old newspaper clippings, rusty toys, photos, and a handwritten letter from the early 1900s.
Jesse Leitch, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, made the surprising discovery when contractors came to put in some new pipes after he had heating problems in his abode.
While the workers were ‘cutting into the ceiling above his bathroom,’ they came across of slew of items left there by the previous residents – and they dated back to over a century ago.
Jesse spoke out about the ‘really cool’ finding with ABC’s 13 On Your Side recently.
‘Basically, as they were cutting into the ceiling above the bathroom [they found the stuff]. It wasn’t in a box, it was just all this stuff kind of set in a pile,’ he explained.
‘I’ve always kind of thought about doing stuff like that. You know, if we renovate the place, leave something in the wall for the next guy.
‘I just thought it was extremely cool and it gave me a connection to the [house].’
Jesse also opened up about it to Fox News, explaining that there was 12 items in total.
Amongst the stuff left behind was a newspaper from 1913 and a business card for a local music shop, which upon doing some research, he found out had closed in 1907.
In addition, there was a handwritten letter sent from someone named Gertrude to someone else named Ruth.
‘Hello Ruth. This is just the way Ethel looks now with her hair up on electric curlers,’ Gertrude wrote, per Fox, in the note, alongside a drawing of a woman with hair sticking up.
‘Do you remember Helen Stuart? Well, she says “Hello” to you. So does Anna. If any of the professors see Ethel, they’ll put her in the museum.’
Jesse told the publication that they were able to locate a gravestone of someone in Michigan named Helen Stuart, who had died in 1996.
Also in the group of items was a tiny cast iron pan, which he believed must have belonged to a doll set based on its size, part of a music box, and some dominos.
‘I think we wanna clean the rust out of it and try cooking some tiny food with it and see how that works,’ Jesse told ABC of the pan.
‘Obviously some kid living here thought this stuff was important to stick around for the next guy.’
He said he plans to display some of the items in his home, and offer the rest to the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
He also wants to make his own time capsule now, and put it in the hole in his ceiling before it gets patched up.
‘I’ve made some music that we put onto vinyl records. And I think that [might be] a good way to preserve music for that for the future,’ he dished to Fox.