So, What have 'you' found while restoring??

[myboyburt]

Originally Posted by enduroryda

This is pretty cool...

Not quite sure what it is but I found this behind our couch when I was re-doing the floor. It's a nice smooth piece of stone on a strand of leather. The previous owners (she died of cancer) name was Sharon so we affectionately call it "Sharon's Stone" and keep it hanging for her in the stream......

Wonderful! I believe Sharon would be pleased.

I'm one of the lucky ones: My parents gifted our Airstream to us and they are both very much alive. To remember (as if we need a reminder) that our Airstream came from a much different place from New Boston, NH we display my "rents" AZ trailer plate in the "Tube".

[HiHoAgRV]

In our SOB camper - Found a service report for the tow vehicle, my Brother-in-law was listed as the service tech. They live 1/2 way across the state!
In our Houseboat- The PO found out we were restoring and stopped by to ask if we ever found his lost stash, please let him know so he could re-claim it. Never found the stash but did find a search warrant with guess who's name on it...

[Moonstruck]

Drugs and allsorts! Life is exciting!

When I got the paperwork with my trailer, there was a packing checklist from the original owner. The first item was, "remove birdy and put in cupboard above microwave". I thought about whether my PO had bought a parrott with his Airstream!
When I finally got to every corner of the Airstream I found "birdy". A 1" tall toy nestling in a collapsing wire rack which I spotted the hanger for above the galley mirror. The bottom, larger hanger keeps my teacloths for drying the dishes. But the smaller, top hanger, is pride of place for birdy out of respect for the "OO", Original Owner.
Marc

[Boondocker]

Critter parts and a June 1975 National Geographic featuring Alaska

[bugsbunny]

Found an original WBCCI Membership pamplet.

Found lots of spare parts

[Rhonda]

When we got the trailer it had avacado green pots and pans, two WBCCI Rally paper fans from 1980, rosary beads,"God Bless Our Trailer" wooden sign,brand new in the box blue and white striped 20' screen room from 1978(the awning is green and white),manual with lots of reciepts and handwritten notes especially several 7 pin wiring diagrams, previous reciepts from Inland RV, no record though of when stiffener plates and elephants ears were done of course,very old teddy bear and pagoda patio lights and one roll of wide beltline and one roll of narrow. Unfortunately no money but luckily no bugs or critter remains!

[cameront120]

A small bag of "B.C. Bud" down in the floor cavity by the water pump. A few half smoked roaches, here and there. Hey, it's the West coast!

[Fyrzowt]

A condom, still in the wrapper than goodness.
Dave

[GetOutDoors]

Well, when I removed the inside skin to get to the c-channel that holds the shell to the frame and floor, I found lots of peanut shells. Most were found in the front and in the back curbside corner. It must have been a two day job for the installer.

I wonder how long the 'peanut eater' worked at Airstream, and how many other coaches have peanut shells in their wall?

Calvin

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by Spiffy Gem

Well, when I removed the inside skin to get to the c-channel that holds the shell to the frame and floor, I found lots of peanut shells. Most were found in the front and in the back curbside corner. It must have been a two day job for the installer.

I wonder how long the 'peanut eater' worked at Airstream, and how many other coaches have peanut shells in their wall?

Calvin

Wow, 41 year old peanuts. I keep things past the expiration date but thats way too long.

[brunoffrance]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

Critter parts and a June 1975 National Geographic featuring Alaska

Did you buy the Roger rabbit's Airstream ??????

Bruno

[GetOutDoors]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Wow, 41 year old peanuts. I keep things past the expiration date but thats way too long.

Mostly just peanut shells. However, there were a lot of them.

Do peanut shells work as insulation?

I wonder if Airstream had some kind of rule about not eating while building and he was trying to hide his peanut eating activity . .. Maybe he just thought some repair guy would get a chuckle some day if and when future repair work was being done.

[bkahler]

In our 1st SOB we bought from a 3rd party who had purchased it from an estate. It had been parked for 7 years prior to that when the parents fell ill. No one from the family had touched the MH since. It came fully stocked when we bought it with everything you could ever want in a MH, kinda like stepping into a time warp, unfortunately it was all old and smelly and deteriorated. But the best thing we found was when I had pulled the front kitchen cabinet face frame and found an envelope with $800 worth of American Express Travelers checks already signed the first time, just waiting for the counter signature.

My wife got on the phone with AE and found that they were still valid. So our next task was to track down the family. Turns out we found the son who had the same name as the father and was also the executor of the will. All he had to do was sign the checks and the money was his. We didn't get so much as a thank you from the family

When we bought the 74 AS trailer it had been used as a deer camp for about 10 years. It was total trash inside. We did find an old Playboy magazine and an assortment of beer cans, etc.

[dnrtheil]

We found a bottle of Coppertone Suntan Lotion. Judging by the bottle design, it's from '64 - '65.

[wanderer1]

I found a dead toothbrush in a slot under the bath sink and a cracker box w/crackers still inside, hidden in an overhead cabinet.No, I didn't test 'em for freshness .

[klattu]

100s of the leftovers from pop rivets.
2 PO letter stick on address labels.
Original PO was from Louisiana, kinda fun to look them up and share info.
A brochure from Alberquerque<sp Ballon Fest from 1989, cool since we are going this year.
Lots of creative repairs.

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by bkahler

We didn't get so much as a thank you from the family

No good dead goes unpunished

[1953 Flying]

let see here.. When restoring our 53' Flying Cloud we found a nickle from 1953, which we found to be the coolest thing. A aluminum Smokey the Bear coin..... and a whole bunch of dead mice

[Blu_Hwy_Lady]

When I was tearing out the front gaucho, I jumped about 6 feet when I thought I spotted a huge black spider. On closer inspection it was some sort of Halloween costume ring but it sure looked real. I also found a photograph of two men standing on a rock in the middle of a koi pond in some place the looked like the northwest. Since Airylle orginially came from Washington state and had only 2 POs I'm thinking it was a picture of the first owners. I keep the picture in her restoration album with pictures of her on the set of Wild Hogs, pictures of the fire that nearly destroyed her and the "before" pics.

[Goin camping]

First time we used our brand new trailer we found the dealers bottle of window cleaner in the gas tank storage compartment. We keep it there as its worked out to be a nice easy spot to store it in.