We’re done! The attic is now (sort of) nicely organized, vacuumed, and ready for more junk.
A discovery: We’ve discovered what the 8′ & 42″ lengths of wood (mentioned in my last post) are for – a quilting frame. That’s the good news. The bad (or sad?) news is that no one wants quilting frames anymore – hope Goodwill can put them to some use. I’d forgotten that Mom was interested for a little bit in quilting (before she became besotted with stained glass, which was a longer-lived hobby).
One item we found was an old oscillating fan. I’d remembered it being in use for many years; I looked at the frayed cord, the very wide-spaced blade protection, and thought to myself that no one would want it. So I started carrying it to the truck (it weighs a ton!), and literally, when I’d nearly reached the truck, had 2nd thoughts and decided not to take it to the dump quite yet. Am I glad I had that epiphany! Don & I tracked down some model & patent numbers from the bottom, and it turns out it’s a worth keeping. It’s a 1941 GE FM12S1, a hybrid model. I learned through my internet fan research project that there are those who collect vintage fans (why should that surprise me?) – see, for example, www.dtvintagefans.org. Word to the wise: don’t throw out old fans. Now, what are we going to do with it? Without electrical refurbishment, it won’t be plugged in, but it may have a position of honor in our home or in our new project (more on that another day). Here are a couple of pictures of it:
In addition to the fan, there wasn’t much more of value – sentimental or otherwise. I did find a box of old 8mm film. At some point, I want to take some sample reels to a conversion place to see if they may be converted to a digital format, but years in a very hot attic may have ruined them. And I have a box of pictures and documents that have been brought down from the attic and are now residing in the den – my new (more convenient) attic. One of these days.