🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Any ideas about these?

smr1000

Jr. Member
Aug 20, 2023
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Northeast Ohio
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garrett ace 300
Until the big freeze, I've spent the past month hitting this area that I stumbled upon in the woods near me. The coins that I've found indicate that something was going on here between 1900-1920. Nothing is noted on any old maps of this area and I've looked everywhere. There are no obvious indications now that there were buildings here, but I've found a lot of this hardware which all seem to all be related. I've found parts to candlestick phones, old bottles and glass as well from that time frame. Lot's of old bullet casings and parts of fishing reels, so maybe a hunting lodge? There was a train line nearby, but no station. These pieces all seem to be somehow related and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas. No markings on the pieces except for the 'safety matches holder.' Perhaps the most confusing is the piece (last three images) which may be something to do with a telegram from some women to '...Pope Pious at the Vatican...'Just trying to piece together the past. Maybe one of the experts has an idea. Thanks for any ideas. I'm really appreciative!
 

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items date in the range you provided, hinges, escutcheons could be a bit earlier. Perhaps researching the property owner around 1900 might help. Was it RR property or private? Possibly a dump site used by the owner.
 

Upvote 1
Interesting group of finds.

Pope Pius X (spelled ‘Pious’ on your typesetting) was head of the Catholic Church from August 1903 until August 1914, so that at least gives you a time-frame. Type-setting like that would normally be for a newspaper or something printed in volume and won’t be for something as transient as a telegram.
 

Upvote 4
Printing.
Cabinetry/furniture. Ornate.


Fabric /heavy material of canvas or similar fasteners. You show 2 of where a button hole (similar) reinforced opening goes over them and then they are turned on top to secure.
Vehicles may have used them.

The thermometer looking thing....Might be cooking estove related. Or not.
140b-1.jpg


Ornate...And possibly a motor vehicle. Either well to do household.. or a church site maybe?
 

Upvote 2
Thanks for the input. What is interesting is that these were all found across a surprisingly wide area.
Some were essentially surface finds and some were deep. Doesn't seem like a dump. I wondered if these could've been related to one of the former trains which crossed nearby. Maybe they were decorated ornately. However, no big
pieces that would be associated with railroad car. No ruins or evidence of a home or a church while hiking, nor on old maps. A mystery for the ages ;)
 

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Upvote 1
An explanation for the furniture escutcheons and hinges might be that a piece of furniture fell off the train as it was moving and came apart as it crashed along the ground. The wood rotted away, leaving the metal parts you found. The linotype metal was in a scrap metal shipment on another car, and fell through cracks between the floor planks and bounced around before coming to rest. Hence all this stuff is scattered. By the way, I sometimes have a good imagination, or at least an imagination!
 

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Take a good photo of the typeset and go to the photo and edit. You can mirror image it and make it easy to read. I love all that old hardware!! So cool! Why can't we have nice things anymore?
 

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My Father worked in a print shop and at a newspaper and he ran a "Linotype" machine for years.
He use to bring the lead with type on it (like you posted) home from work.
Then he would melt the lead - pour the lead into fishing sinker molds and sell the sinkers in the bait and tackle shop we had on our farm up until the early 1960's.
 

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