Thanks for the interesting post! I’m going to print the article for my husband who always puts secret messages/photos in our walls, etc whenever we remodel (he thinks someone will be interested someday when they tear down our house!)
My husband was a carpenter/remodeller who loved to find old newspapers and other messages in walls.
I helped a friend strip wallpaper from a house that dated from the early 1920s.
One wall had “not sized” written on it in large cursive letters.
I commented that we were looking at something written by someone who had passed away...
I have always tucked away something of ours and about us in the places we have lived.
I would love to see what has fallen in the cracks in our current home throughout the years. We live in a mid 19th century farmhouse, the upstairs flooring is from an older structure and has some cracks and gaps. There is a hollow space between the floor and the downstairs ceiling. I would love to know what is in there.
I hope his wish comes true someday and someone finds his messages. That would be fun for everyone.
Whenever I hear about this sort of thing, I'm always reminded of the Warner Bros. cartoon titled One Froggy Evening. A construction working finds a frog (Michigan J Frog, for trivia buffs), which sings show tunes... but only when the man around to hear and for no one else. It soon drives him to ruin.
One Froggy Evening(^) at YouTube.
Found writing on the back of some 60-year-old plaster (actually real plaster over drywall) in my bathroom. Something like, "Carl, the cloths shute is being made and will be ready soon." How 'bout the "cloths shute" spelling?
I once stayed in a 19th century bed-n-breakfast in Indiana that had been refurbished by the owners. Upon painting and papering, they found a message under the original paper that instead of papering over, they framed in place for all to see. The message was, “Everyone said that they would come help, but we were the only one who showed. Katy and Linda July 17 1881.”
Sort of cool.