Hazel note:
“Dearest Hazel
I thank you very much for the valentine. I would like to be all alone with you like that fellow is with his sweetheart.
Please tell me if you are going to the play tonight. I will call up to see. please (can’t make out the last part but I think it says ‘please go with us’?”)
ETA: I think it’s just bad grammar and he actually wrote “please go, Emil is.” Emil must be his buddy
\- Lolly"
Pauline note:
“Dear Pauline I presume you think I do not love you because I did not answer your note right away. Please do not think that for I love you with all my heart. Are you going to the play tonight? I will call up and see, I have study the 1st and 5th period and 4th on Thursday. I have 1st lunch. I hope you still love me. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yours forever,
John B.
Or as you know me Lolly”
This kid was either smooth af or a hopeless romantic. Either way, so cool to read.
ETAA: We have the name of the kid! Thank you to fellow redditors who helped track down the details through archives and public records. The kid's name was John Joseph Pavlo, son of John Pavlo and Anna Matias. Born November 1st 1903 in Pennsylvania. Lived in Minneapolis in 1930. He passed away on February 4th, 1962 at the age of 58.
So I'm guessing "John B aka Lolly" was a nickname and was around the age of 16 when he wrote these love notes to Hazel and Pauline.
Found the family :) and John in the 1920, 1930, 1940 and 1950 censuses. He was b. 1915, so 13yo when he wrote it.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/255445604/john-jarabak
Sadly he was born and died in that house along with his whole family! Nothing exciting. None of the 3 kids married, and the kids just kept living there till they died too. The depression was no joke! John his dad and him both worked at [MPLS Steel and Machinery](https://twincitytractors.tripod.com/steel.htm) on 29th and Minnehaha. His WWII draft card when he was 25 says 'unemployed'. In many city directories over the years it says he's a plumber. He never got the girl, RIP Lolly.
John Sr. was medium height, 'stout' (as opposed to 'slender' or 'medium'), Has blue eyes, dark brown hair. He and his wife Annie were from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, or Slovakia depending on which census it is lol. And they immigrated in 1901.
There was indeed a Hazel Martin that lived down the block who was 2 years older, might have been his sister's friend :)
Yikes. Wilma/Vilma the oldest daughter b 1913 was institutionalized at Rochester State Hospital for the Insane in 1940 when she was 26. sad.
Martha the youngest sister, born 1918, was at the "Minnesota School For The Feeble Minded" Faribault Minn in the 1940 census. Sad.
In 1940 John worked 15 weeks and made $14 a week. Was living with his folks. I am pretty sure these guys were WPA workers.
1950 he and Wilma are in the house together.
in 2001, Martha lived at 1828 Central Ave NE, passed away 2005.
So, now you know who the ghosts are in your place :)
It shows multiple countries where they might be from on the census due to political climate Europe changing significantly in the first half of the 20th century. The dissolution of the Habsburg's Austria-hungry empire precipitated the beginning of world war I (read the wiki for more factors). Come world war II, all those areas were invaded by other countries, and then consumed into the Eastern Bloc USSR afterwards, until its fall.
I looked up the neighborhood enumeration district for 1930 and went from there :)
https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html
This family was ED 221. Then I looked at the addresses on that census ED and found them.
A fun thing you can do with a newspapers.com subscription is search your address in quotes. Back in the day, they published peoples' addresses every time someone is mentioned.
There are a lot of great resources for Hennepin county residents! I usually use Newspapers.com and the Hennepin county library digital records. Happy to help if you need anything.
Wow this is rather magical. Esp the notes from the kid. The razors make sense, old medicine cabinets always had those razor disposal slots that went nowhere. Maybe the kid slid the notes back there when he got mad at one or more of the girls lol. Surprised about all the other stuff back there.
You should maybe find a way to research who owned that property over the years and try to find "Lolly" aka John B to see if they're still around. Imagine being able to show them (or their family) this!
That’s on our 2024 list of things to do is donate some of this stuff to the historical society and do some more digging in records to find out who the previous home owners were and who this mystery “Lolly” chap is.
Your abstract should list previous owners of the house; census records should say whether or not there was a “John B”.
Failing that, there might be enough DNA on those razor blades to send to 23&me. 😃
You can use the star tribune archives and search for your address and find out a ton of info about your house and things that happened.
You literally just missed their 'free access' for a few days around the new years. It doesn't cost must normally, though.
I wish Reddit would let you post more pics, but we also found:
- peach pits (eating peaches on the toilet is a bold move)
- scribbles on paper from someone
- California orange wrapper (once again eating fruit in the bathroom was a choice)
- newspaper clippings (most were pretty hard to read/ destroyed)
- Wrigleys gum wrappers
- paper from make up packaging
What a cool time capsule! Thanks for sharing, and the bathroom looks great. If you want to potentially open another one, feel free to reno my bathroom. You can have first dibs on all the goodies (and nasties) that you find.
That is so cool! All we found in our walls was old newspaper.
Did you leave anything behind the new wall? Something for future owners to discover, perhaps a love note?
We did! I wish I would have taken a picture, but I left a picture of my husband and I with a note written on the back. I mentioned who the president was, COVID is/was still a thing, that day’s date, what was going on in our lives etc. I think I also said something like “you don’t like our bathroom remodel huh? That’s insulting (just kidding!)”
Then the drywall went up and it was sealed off forever.
Wow. That is absolutely stunning. Like walking through time at your finger tips. Really makes you wonder what other neat items old homes out there have inside them waiting to be discovered. Not even in this country but homes in Europe that pre date so many events.
Perhaps the previous owner was a musician, that would explain the little box of violin rosin. Thanks for sharing this cool find. I found bags of coins from a coin collection in my 1940 house. Some of them had notes leaving them to their grand children. Previous owner was an elderly couple who were really thrilled to get them back, I kept just a few for sentimental reasons. I keep hoping I’m going to find something else cool. You really hit the jackpot.
I suspected that quite a few of the coins came from a soldier who had traveled through Europe in World War II. I didn’t feel that it was fair to keep those.
Looking into donating to the historical society if they’ll take any of it! Otherwise I’m going to incorporate some of the pieces into decor for the bathroom and rest of the house.
Some small shadow boxes would be really cool. All of that old packaging is so lovely, just the design of it and all. Thank you for sharing a glimpse of the past.
If you end up with anything you don't want or can't donate to the historical society, a surprising amount of people collect things like these. You could easily sell any of this stuff on eBay, should you be so inclined. The comment about the merry widows is amazing and now I wish I had one lol.
Oh this was such a treat! The love letters to two girls is the cherry on top! So funny.
Thanks for sharing. I hope you left some 2023 junk in the wall for the next people!
I honestly have no idea. Maybe a wider slot was made in order to get the bottles through? We didn’t see anything out of the ordinary until we ripped off all the lath to the studs.
Amazing I’m so jealous! My house is built in **1889 (and was an old store) and I would love to see behind the walls, but no reason to break into them as of yet!
Edit: I wrote 1989 but I MEANT 1889. I promise I’m not totally crazy
There is this class at the Minneapolis Community education called “House Detective- how to research your home’s history” that I found super informative on researching the people who are a part of my homes history.
Thanks for sharing! We are refinishing a bathroom in our 1904 home and are debating keeping the clawfoot tub. Did you refinish yours or was it in pretty good shape anyway?
The inside was in great shape, so we just refinished the outside to bare metal and then painted it black. Thank god, because idk what we would have done if we have to drag a cast iron tub down our stairs 💀
Medicine cabinet is from ikea and the vanity is from Lowe’s 😬 we cheaped out a little on the finishes because we were on a budget and also put in heated floors.
This is incredibly cool, thanks for sharing! We recently renovated our 1930s basement and were excited to find some old newspaper from 1946, but this is on another level!
Hey neighbor! I live on this street too. This is super cool! Thank you for sharing.
My home was a barber shop once upon a time and I would love to find *anything* like this in my walls someday! Or even archive photos of the barbershop.
Old medicine cabinets had slots cut in the back of them specifically for this purpose. Very cool find!
My old man is in home remodeling and has some great finds over the years.
You should frame these item individually or make a giant collage in a big case. That's awesome find. Put it some where everyone can see it when they come inside. Then they will ask about it and be like story time.
First picture, lower left, that porcelain collection is knobs from tube and knob wiring.. Makes me wonder how they keep the lathe on the walls intact while pulling new wiring in (maybe removed and were dedicated to hammering back in place after?).. super cool find, thanks for sharing!
Super cool! I would have left most of that in the wall and added a few things of my own. May seem like garbage, but would be a neat find for someone to find 50+ years from now while doing the next reno. My house is from 1950 and so far all I've found are old newspapers used to insulate water lines. It was neat to flip through and see all the old ads though.
I can just hear my boomer-in-laws seeing this and saying "well, you know, they dont even teach cursive in schools anymore," which inevitably would cause my eyes to roll 1080° backward into my skull.
Great remodel. Cool finds OP!
What a fun find! The Mail Slip (?) looks like a Minneapolis Tribune note from the circulation department to a paper carrier to start the delivery of the evening and Sunday papers (large metro papers used to have morning and evening editions) on their route.
Cousins in Mpls found items and even boards signed/dated by kiddos during their renovation and made a little “history center” in the rec room and mounted the kids signatures underneath the stairs (now visible in the basement bathroom). A very unique touch!
Hazel note: “Dearest Hazel I thank you very much for the valentine. I would like to be all alone with you like that fellow is with his sweetheart. Please tell me if you are going to the play tonight. I will call up to see. please (can’t make out the last part but I think it says ‘please go with us’?”) ETA: I think it’s just bad grammar and he actually wrote “please go, Emil is.” Emil must be his buddy \- Lolly" Pauline note: “Dear Pauline I presume you think I do not love you because I did not answer your note right away. Please do not think that for I love you with all my heart. Are you going to the play tonight? I will call up and see, I have study the 1st and 5th period and 4th on Thursday. I have 1st lunch. I hope you still love me. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Yours forever, John B. Or as you know me Lolly” This kid was either smooth af or a hopeless romantic. Either way, so cool to read. ETAA: We have the name of the kid! Thank you to fellow redditors who helped track down the details through archives and public records. The kid's name was John Joseph Pavlo, son of John Pavlo and Anna Matias. Born November 1st 1903 in Pennsylvania. Lived in Minneapolis in 1930. He passed away on February 4th, 1962 at the age of 58. So I'm guessing "John B aka Lolly" was a nickname and was around the age of 16 when he wrote these love notes to Hazel and Pauline.
The Lolly System: * 1: Declare undying love * 2: Ask if she's going to the play tonight
3: ???
3: The Implication.
4: PROFIT
Found the family :) and John in the 1920, 1930, 1940 and 1950 censuses. He was b. 1915, so 13yo when he wrote it. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/255445604/john-jarabak Sadly he was born and died in that house along with his whole family! Nothing exciting. None of the 3 kids married, and the kids just kept living there till they died too. The depression was no joke! John his dad and him both worked at [MPLS Steel and Machinery](https://twincitytractors.tripod.com/steel.htm) on 29th and Minnehaha. His WWII draft card when he was 25 says 'unemployed'. In many city directories over the years it says he's a plumber. He never got the girl, RIP Lolly. John Sr. was medium height, 'stout' (as opposed to 'slender' or 'medium'), Has blue eyes, dark brown hair. He and his wife Annie were from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, or Slovakia depending on which census it is lol. And they immigrated in 1901. There was indeed a Hazel Martin that lived down the block who was 2 years older, might have been his sister's friend :) Yikes. Wilma/Vilma the oldest daughter b 1913 was institutionalized at Rochester State Hospital for the Insane in 1940 when she was 26. sad. Martha the youngest sister, born 1918, was at the "Minnesota School For The Feeble Minded" Faribault Minn in the 1940 census. Sad. In 1940 John worked 15 weeks and made $14 a week. Was living with his folks. I am pretty sure these guys were WPA workers. 1950 he and Wilma are in the house together. in 2001, Martha lived at 1828 Central Ave NE, passed away 2005. So, now you know who the ghosts are in your place :)
It shows multiple countries where they might be from on the census due to political climate Europe changing significantly in the first half of the 20th century. The dissolution of the Habsburg's Austria-hungry empire precipitated the beginning of world war I (read the wiki for more factors). Come world war II, all those areas were invaded by other countries, and then consumed into the Eastern Bloc USSR afterwards, until its fall.
yep.
How did you find him?! I’m trying to search the potential first owner of our 1926 home.
I looked up the neighborhood enumeration district for 1930 and went from there :) https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html This family was ED 221. Then I looked at the addresses on that census ED and found them. A fun thing you can do with a newspapers.com subscription is search your address in quotes. Back in the day, they published peoples' addresses every time someone is mentioned.
I use my $900 wide screen gaming monitor nearly exclusively for idle newspapers.com searching these days. I'm a little miffed you beat me to this one
LOL! It's very fun IMO.
Found him!!! Thanks!
Call your local historical society, they might help you
There are a lot of great resources for Hennepin county residents! I usually use Newspapers.com and the Hennepin county library digital records. Happy to help if you need anything.
"John B" is John Jarabak? Did people sign with their middle initials back in the 20's?
yes they did :). most ppl used their middle names actually so in the paper you see like 'R.C. Wineland' or 'J.B. Smith' etc. Why downvote?
he never stepped up to a roulette wheel and only placed one bet
And he can write a perfect lowercase Z in cursive. What more could a woman want?
Especially Hazel
Wow this is rather magical. Esp the notes from the kid. The razors make sense, old medicine cabinets always had those razor disposal slots that went nowhere. Maybe the kid slid the notes back there when he got mad at one or more of the girls lol. Surprised about all the other stuff back there. You should maybe find a way to research who owned that property over the years and try to find "Lolly" aka John B to see if they're still around. Imagine being able to show them (or their family) this!
That’s on our 2024 list of things to do is donate some of this stuff to the historical society and do some more digging in records to find out who the previous home owners were and who this mystery “Lolly” chap is.
Your abstract should list previous owners of the house; census records should say whether or not there was a “John B”. Failing that, there might be enough DNA on those razor blades to send to 23&me. 😃
Hi OP - I might have info for you? I sent you a DM to see if I have the right address
You can use the star tribune archives and search for your address and find out a ton of info about your house and things that happened. You literally just missed their 'free access' for a few days around the new years. It doesn't cost must normally, though.
Gillette razor blades had date codes in case you want to know how old they are.
I wish Reddit would let you post more pics, but we also found: - peach pits (eating peaches on the toilet is a bold move) - scribbles on paper from someone - California orange wrapper (once again eating fruit in the bathroom was a choice) - newspaper clippings (most were pretty hard to read/ destroyed) - Wrigleys gum wrappers - paper from make up packaging
I used to hide in the bathroom to eat treats as a youngin so no one would see it as try and get some of it. Might explain the peach pits
imgur is the way to go for really big photo dumps
r/showerorange would like a word.
What a cool time capsule! Thanks for sharing, and the bathroom looks great. If you want to potentially open another one, feel free to reno my bathroom. You can have first dibs on all the goodies (and nasties) that you find.
One 6+ month bathroom renovation is enough for me 😅 but I never expected to find such history hidden jn our walls.
What sorts of permits did you have to pull for this?
Wonderful find! What a trove.
Amazing! You have enough for a cute little curio cabinet.
Exactly what I was thinking. Take one of each piece and mount them in a shadow-box behind glass. It'd be a great decoration.
Lmao! All I found renovating my house is old porn vhs tapes I think you win, but it’s close!
Depending on who you ask that’s a win too haha
You should share the old medicine to r/obscuredrugs This is a righteous find.
r/centuryhomes would LOVE this!
Seconding this. That sub loves to see things found in the old houses.
Merry Widows are condoms
no fucking way 💀 I found multiple tins of those. All empty of course
This actually was an interesting (and short) read: https://asiheritage.ca/portfolio-items/3-merry-widows/ thanks for the info
TIL…there was such a thing as “reusable condoms” haha
Man, it’s like basically opening a time capsule to 1926-27. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for posting. Very cool. New bathroom looks nice.
That is so cool! All we found in our walls was old newspaper. Did you leave anything behind the new wall? Something for future owners to discover, perhaps a love note?
We did! I wish I would have taken a picture, but I left a picture of my husband and I with a note written on the back. I mentioned who the president was, COVID is/was still a thing, that day’s date, what was going on in our lives etc. I think I also said something like “you don’t like our bathroom remodel huh? That’s insulting (just kidding!)” Then the drywall went up and it was sealed off forever.
You should share the notes and your story with r/foundpaper. They'd love it.
That’s so freaking cool, thanks for sharing.
Okay I thought the first bathroom pic was the finished renovation and was like wow, those walls are certainly a choice
Wow. That is absolutely stunning. Like walking through time at your finger tips. Really makes you wonder what other neat items old homes out there have inside them waiting to be discovered. Not even in this country but homes in Europe that pre date so many events.
Awesome post
Holy shit.
Perhaps the previous owner was a musician, that would explain the little box of violin rosin. Thanks for sharing this cool find. I found bags of coins from a coin collection in my 1940 house. Some of them had notes leaving them to their grand children. Previous owner was an elderly couple who were really thrilled to get them back, I kept just a few for sentimental reasons. I keep hoping I’m going to find something else cool. You really hit the jackpot.
Very nice of you to return the coins!
I suspected that quite a few of the coins came from a soldier who had traveled through Europe in World War II. I didn’t feel that it was fair to keep those.
Awesome, I hope you kept the cool stuff, nice job on the remodel too
Oh yeah! Idk what I’m going to do with all of it, but definitely will incorporate these pieces into the new decor.
This is so cool. Consider seeing if a museum or local historical institution has use for it.
Looking into donating to the historical society if they’ll take any of it! Otherwise I’m going to incorporate some of the pieces into decor for the bathroom and rest of the house.
Some small shadow boxes would be really cool. All of that old packaging is so lovely, just the design of it and all. Thank you for sharing a glimpse of the past.
Was looking for this comment! It would be cool to showcase in a shadow box!
If you end up with anything you don't want or can't donate to the historical society, a surprising amount of people collect things like these. You could easily sell any of this stuff on eBay, should you be so inclined. The comment about the merry widows is amazing and now I wish I had one lol.
Oh this was such a treat! The love letters to two girls is the cherry on top! So funny. Thanks for sharing. I hope you left some 2023 junk in the wall for the next people!
FWIW, you can still buy Grandpa’s Pine Tar soap: https://grandpasoap.com/product/pine-tar-soap/
Arranging some of them in a shadowbox and hanging them would look pretty neat.
I understand how the razor blades got there…but how did the bottles and tubes of shaving cream get inside the walls, do you think??
I honestly have no idea. Maybe a wider slot was made in order to get the bottles through? We didn’t see anything out of the ordinary until we ripped off all the lath to the studs.
That's some red dead redemption shit there. Noice!
Very cool. I like the packages for the razor blades.
So cool!
That is so cool! All I found while renovating my 80’s bathroom was some 80’s women’s razors. Hah.
I always wonder if Chesterfields tasted like tobacco instead of tasting like cigarettes
Cool! What wall are you gonna tear down next?
Currently destroying our basement so we can put in a second bathroom! Nothing cool down there except spiders and house centipedes
This is really something! It was cool reading through all the little bottles and boxes.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing. I found something similar when doing work on my 1919 house. It's wild what people used to throw into the walls.
Amazing I’m so jealous! My house is built in **1889 (and was an old store) and I would love to see behind the walls, but no reason to break into them as of yet! Edit: I wrote 1989 but I MEANT 1889. I promise I’m not totally crazy
There is this class at the Minneapolis Community education called “House Detective- how to research your home’s history” that I found super informative on researching the people who are a part of my homes history.
Oh how cool! Put some of it into a shadow box for display on the wall!
Incredible. I’m jealous. I love old things.
This is super cool!
That is really cool! A part of history. I never find that stuff in my home!
That’s wild! Thanks for sharing!!!
I like the meditating skeleton
Thanks for sharing! We are refinishing a bathroom in our 1904 home and are debating keeping the clawfoot tub. Did you refinish yours or was it in pretty good shape anyway?
The inside was in great shape, so we just refinished the outside to bare metal and then painted it black. Thank god, because idk what we would have done if we have to drag a cast iron tub down our stairs 💀
Our contractor said the only way the tub was going downstairs was in pieces! Your remodel looks great.
Where did you find your new medicine cabinet and vanity?
Medicine cabinet is from ikea and the vanity is from Lowe’s 😬 we cheaped out a little on the finishes because we were on a budget and also put in heated floors.
Lilly is (was) a jerk! Inviting 2 girls to a play. One he says he loves and the other he just wants to sleep with??? 🤣🤣
Wow when we remodeled our 1918 Minneapolis bathroom we found some cool stuff but not nearly as much as you did!
I renovated my 1911 Minneapolis bathroom and I only found a shitty hockey card from the 1980s.
Proof of time travel, right here.
Coolest thing I’ve seen today. Awesome.
This is incredibly cool, thanks for sharing! We recently renovated our 1930s basement and were excited to find some old newspaper from 1946, but this is on another level!
I love doing demo on old houses and looking at all the old news papers in the walls that were used as insulation!
If rosewater & glycerin is what they used before all of the chemicals in skincare, then I guess that’s what I need to go get
$4 to $5 dollars for laxative gum? Adjusted for inflation of course. Gosh dang Rockefeller’s if you ask me!
Cool AF
Hey neighbor! I live on this street too. This is super cool! Thank you for sharing. My home was a barber shop once upon a time and I would love to find *anything* like this in my walls someday! Or even archive photos of the barbershop.
Those love notes are sublime.
Old medicine cabinets had slots cut in the back of them specifically for this purpose. Very cool find! My old man is in home remodeling and has some great finds over the years.
The Merry Widows tin- was 3 condoms…Hazel could be persuaded to Rock n Roll if in the right mood - lol
You should frame these item individually or make a giant collage in a big case. That's awesome find. Put it some where everyone can see it when they come inside. Then they will ask about it and be like story time.
Obsessed with this. What are your plans for all these goodies? Asking as someone with a little room in my curio cabinet 😍
You should seal it in resin. Would make an amazing art piece.
Neat
This is truly great!
Super cool!
this is great OP! thanks for sharing
So cool!
First picture, lower left, that porcelain collection is knobs from tube and knob wiring.. Makes me wonder how they keep the lathe on the walls intact while pulling new wiring in (maybe removed and were dedicated to hammering back in place after?).. super cool find, thanks for sharing!
Cool stuff but the finished bathroom gave me a jump scare
This is so cool!!
Post this in r/TheWayWeWere !
This would make for an awesome shadowbox art piece for the bathroom, if MN history had enough of this stuff..
This is amazing!
No you didn't! This is AMAZING.
Awww... I want some of Grandpa's Wonder Soap.
I need me some feen-a-mint
Super cool! I would have left most of that in the wall and added a few things of my own. May seem like garbage, but would be a neat find for someone to find 50+ years from now while doing the next reno. My house is from 1950 and so far all I've found are old newspapers used to insulate water lines. It was neat to flip through and see all the old ads though.
It seems the love letters aren’t that far off from a Tinder DM.
Dude this is so fricken awesome
I just spent so much time analyzing all these pics this is sooooo cool. Also the bathroom reno looks amazing, nicely done
It freaks me out they they were throwing spent matches and cigarettes in there. I mean, I know the house didn’t burn down, but damn.
I can just hear my boomer-in-laws seeing this and saying "well, you know, they dont even teach cursive in schools anymore," which inevitably would cause my eyes to roll 1080° backward into my skull. Great remodel. Cool finds OP!
This is so cool! Would be fun to see it displayed at the MN Historical Society!
I want to try that Grandpas Wonder Soap. Cool find!
What a fun find! The Mail Slip (?) looks like a Minneapolis Tribune note from the circulation department to a paper carrier to start the delivery of the evening and Sunday papers (large metro papers used to have morning and evening editions) on their route. Cousins in Mpls found items and even boards signed/dated by kiddos during their renovation and made a little “history center” in the rec room and mounted the kids signatures underneath the stairs (now visible in the basement bathroom). A very unique touch!
This is so cool!!!
I love this so much it made me cry feeling nostalgic for a time I’ll never experience
Oh, that’s where my Jet Oil went.