Oldies, but Goodies

Last night my husband came home from the weekend trip he took to northeastern Pennsylvania to do some clean-up at the house he and his brothers inherited from their grandfather. They have tenants coming and going...or that should be going and coming...and there was lots of cleaning and patching and painting to do. 

But the house has been owned by his grandmother's family for the last almost-one-hundred years, and Stephen's aunt lives next door still. Over the years, she (his aunt) has passed down lots of attic-finds and old pictures as well as a number of pieces of furniture that Grandpa had owned. Recently, she gave him the old wooden box that Grandpa had used to pack dynamite for Dupont for many, many years. It's on the shelf in our foyer now.

And last night, he arrived home bearing gifts again. Lots of neat, old things!

This trike belonged to Stephen's grandmother as a child, which makes it
nearly 100 years old now.  Luke and Cade used to ride on it when we
went to visit their great-grandfather a few years ago.

Luke found this guitar in Aunt R.'s attic a few weeks ago when he was there
helping do some clean-up with Stephen. So she sent it along home for him. He is
VERY excited and hopes to learn to play it when we get the strings replaced.

Cade with the bat.

 This bat was broken by Cade's great-great-grandfather Cal Hosier in an exhibition game played by the minor league Pittston Craftsmen against the major league Washington Senators on September 12, 1924. Cal and two of his brothers played for the Pittston Craftsmen. Bucky Harris, a local, had made it big as a player-manager for the Senators, and he brought his team through Pittston for an exhibition game that fall. Harris and the Senators later went on to win the World Series against the Giants that year.   

On the bat it is written that Cal Hosier broke the bat in the exhibition game between the Pittston Craftsmen and Bucky Harris' Washington Senators at the Exeter stadium on September 12, 1924. The score is recorded as 11-6 Washington
(though William Kashatus notes the score as 15-5 Washington in his book Diamonds in the Coalfields).

And lastly, Aunt R. sent this old Kodak Brownie No. 2A along home for the girl who likes taking pictures. I'm not sure I'll ever attempt to take a picture with this camera, but I'm really excited to have it. 

After watching a YouTube video, I figured out how to open it. And from browsing around online, I've learned that it was manufactured sometime between 1920-1924. It's been in the family for a long time, that's for sure! And it's pretty neat to think that this camera could have been the one that snapped many of the old photographs that we've found and scanned over the years. 

I'm sure there are still lots of treasures in that attic, and Luke would like to help investigate. When they were there looking around recently, he told Stephen, "American Pickers doesn't know what they're missing!" I think he may be right!