High school dance card with tiny pencil, 1938

A homemade dance card with attached pencil found in an old trunk. It looks like she sat out half the dances - at least I assume it's a she. Did men carry dance cards? I took for granted they just remembered with whom they were dancing.

Casper velvet painting

This was one of a series of four velvet paintings of cartoon characters, although only Casper and his...guitar? ukulele? was worthy of serious consideration. However, six dollars was a bit much even for so much awesomeness.

Till next time, Ali A. Age 12

Three halcyon days in the life of a twelve year old. Found in a discarded notebook.

Reasons why I will get rejected

The Ship-Wreck'd Sailors

This is a pencil composition of seafarers in a sad plight. I found this in an old trunk where it had been undisturbed for over 50 years. I was thinking about who the artist might have been, considering the trunk and its contents were acquired from a different homestead by my grandfather. At first glance, I didn't notice a signature on the picture and assumed that the drawing was a copy of an extant painting. But today, while I was taking pictures of it, I found a very small signature to the right of the drowning figure in the foreground, a "Wm Bance." This may not be of any significance, but the drawing could very well be original. Jumping out of the drawing the way it did, finding the signature was a dramatic little moment like in a Josephine Tey detective novel, when the inspector recognizes the man in the portrait and solves the mystery. Except I haven't really solved anything, and the artist remains in the shadows.

Other trifles in the trunk: a red cross button from 1921, a sheaf of letters from 1915 tied with a shoe-lace, a very small key, enamel costume jewelry, old primers, woolen mittens, a Farmer's Almanac, buttons, and a homemade rose-shaped pin made of sealing wax.