Random Acts of Living


Saturday, December 11, 2010

Old Frame

I was going through some things that I had brought home from my Aunt Leta's apartment and decided to take the old pictures out of their frames and put them in the albums with the family pictures and history. The pictures in this frame I already have copies of, they are of my mother and Aunt Leta in the first picture. My Uncle Vernon in the second picture and my Uncle Howard and Uncle Donny in the third picture. I never met Uncle Donny. He drown not too long after this picture was taken.

I like the old frame, it has that folk artsy quality to it. So I turned it over and pulled the nails out that were holding in the cardboard.

It was then I discovered a message, written in pencil on the cardboard backing.

It says,
"I got 5 gallons of gasoline. I was out or I awaited till tomorrow.
pay you later
Lewis Nowak"

I called mom to let her know what I found. She said the Nowaks lived down the road from them in Brewster (near Goodland) KS and that Lewis went to school with Uncle Howard. Lewis' father, Carl, drove the school bus for the Brownsvilled School District, Sherman County. Carl was from Poland and when driving the bus would say he "pulled the hill up" and "turned the corner round." Later Lewis drove the bus. Mom knew nothing of the note, nor any idea when it might have been written. Lewis died in 2008, so far we haven't been able to contact any of his children to find out if they'd like the note.
For the time being, I think it shall remain in the old frame.

4 comments:

Peter said...

The mind boggles whether or not the bill was paid and, if not, how much the outstanding bill would be now, taking into account the interest. Lets hope he paid it! LOL

As for finding unexpected things, the last time I came across something unexpected is when I was helping the inlaws pull up the old lino.

Underneath where layers upon layers of extremely old newspapers. They were a great read and a great find, just like your great find!

Take Care,
Peter

Moonshadow said...

I love finding old ephemera, especially newspapers. Ladies used to line their dresser drawers with newspapers. The old ads and what things cost, political happenings and just plain gossip. The smaller community newspapers were actually more gossip than news. My Petty Pin-Up Girls were found during a remodel too.

Mom and I talked about how old the IOU might be, but we're not real sure. The pictures hadn't been in the frame all that long because they were taped together with a fairly new transparent tape. I'm planning on doing some more research on it. I'll post if I find anything. :)

Peter said...

Hi! I'm doing my Christmas rounds before Santa arrives. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. PS Thanks so much for your support during the year.

Take Care,
Peter

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas! That is super cool! I love looking at old ads too and old postcards.