Shortly after we moved in, we found a treasure trove of local newspapers from the 1950s. Or technically, our cat did. The bottom drawer of our dining room buffet has a large gap. The area under was stuffed with a substantial stack with Daily Oregonian and Portland Journal newspapers from September-October 1950. We found the cat sneaking into the drawer crevice, so he tipped us off.

The gap under the buffet

Based on local title searches, we know when the different owners took possession of the house. These newspapers would’ve been placed by the last owners, Richard and Agnes Clark, shortly after they moved in. They lived in the house for over 56 years.

We are not sure if these were placed as sort of a time capsule, or if they were simply trying to insulate. However, you would think they would’ve crumbled them up or something if that was the case. The space is awkward, but they took great care to place dozens of editions down the hole without major damage. It just seems more strategic when you look at it that way.

The first paper out (May 2007)

We found the bulk of the trove in May 2007. But a few days ago, while I was staining the buffet, I decided to check if there were any more down there by using my camera to take a photo. The photos revealed several more papers stuffed further back and under both sides.

The camera shows more goodies!

I grabbed some salad tongs to help me reach further back, and hope that no spiders were going to bite me when sticking my hand into a dark space.

Paper stacks

Highlights

Refrigerator advertisement

“Use Crisco. It’s Digestible!”

Original LOLcats

View the full photoset on Flickr.

One Response to “1950s Newspaper Time Capsule”

1. Jamie says:

   June 8, 2010 at 10:08 am

   Very cool find!

   Jamie at Style 1900 magazine.