Lost and found

Did some household archaeology last night during the bathroom demolition. The little linen closet in the bath used to just be an alcove. At some point, a previous homeowner put a little door in the alcove and nailed it in place to give the towels some privacy. Trouble is, they did kind of a half-assed job of it. The door frame was too small for the alcove, so they used wedges to hold it in place. This left a gap between the wall and the edge of the door frame where tiny toiletries could easily get lost.

Some things are designed with that sort of disposal in mind. The medicine cabinet that had been over the sink had a little slot in the back labeled “Razor Blades.” The idea was that you’d just toss them in there when you were done with them. There wasn’t any kind of bin or tray to catch them on the other side though. They’d just fall down into the wall and slowly fill up the gap between the studs and the plaster, and hopefully there’s no exposed wires back there… When I take the plaster down, I’ll be kind of disappointed if I don’t find a tiny rusted burial mound of double-edged sharpness down by the baseboard.

The closet is a different matter though. The things that got lost there just vanished mysteriously. The homeowner would go to the closet and open it, expecting to find the spare toothbrush, KNOWING she’d had one there… And now it was gone. It must have been incredibly frustrating. It’s kind of depressing too, thinking of her getting older in this house and wondering if her mind was starting to play tricks on her, never realizing that the cabinet itself was to blame.

I found a whole bunch of strange things. A couple of magazine sample-sized foil packets of shampoos, a toothbrush or two, some yellowed cotton balls. There were four really interesting things that I figured were worth sharing with you all. They’re an interesting look into the personal grooming habits of the past…

Here are the four foundlings: a classic metal hair curler, a scissors-comb, a bottle of Cutex “Slightly Scarlet” nail polish and a box of Poloris dental poultices.

The curler and the scissors are interesting just because they look so old-fashioned. Combined with the nail polish they give the image of a woman concerned with her appearance, and who is willing to pay the 10% federal tax in order to look good…

In contrast, the dental poultice is kind of scary. Especially because the active ingredient is Belladonna. They could have used the common name “Deadly Nightshade” but it probably wouldn’t have sold quite as well. The back of the box has a caution about avoiding stimulants, but they advise using a new poultice every two hours and they don’t give a maximum dosage. There’s two poultices left in the box, and I’m not sure how to dispose of them safely. I’m sure as heck not going to use them… There’s something just not right about using a deadly poison to relieve minor dental pain.