Bathroom Remodel: Chapter 1a (The Newspaper from Under the Tub)

Last post I shared that my dad had found a 71-year old newspaper underneath our bathtub during his and my husband's bathroom demolition. At the time I was unable to show it to you, but, well, now I can.

Take a look at what a Chicago Tribune looked like on June 23, 1938.

It's still in pretty great shape, considering its age and the fact that it sat under our tub for 60 years. (Therein lies the mystery: Our house was built in 1948, 10 years after this newspaper was printed. So why is it under our tub at all? It wasn't like it was being used for insulation or anything; it looked deliberately planted. Was this date important to someone? I'm really curious about this, and I know I'll never find out the answer.) I know that this first page is hard to see because of the dirt, but rest assured, the headlines are priceless. There's one about Nazis rioting in Hungary and another about the Japanese beginning to bomb China. We found another article about Neville Chamberlain (the English Prime Minister before Churchill), and just generally many chilling details leading up to the outbreak of WWII. The articles are all pretty short, and the majority of the paper seems to be set aside for clothing ads.

The clothing is pretty cheap, too. Check out this ad for a suit for $21.95!

Here's an article on Roosevelt and a Kennedy (not JFK, obviously.)

I found another article about a socialite who married a wealthy guy in November of 1937 and separated from him the following June; the article was all about their divorce proceedings. So this isn't a recent phenomenon, you see.

Finally, a page that my friend Karla and I found particularly endearing. First, a package of Kotex feminine napkins runs for $.48. And the ad just underneath that is advertising some sort of underarm pads. For discerning women before deodorant was a widely accepted thing, I'm sure.

I can't even imagine trying to keep those suckers in my pits. I'm sure my attempts to disguise unfeminine sweat stains would be preempted by underarm pads wiggling out of my shirtsleeves. Or, better yet, popping out of my neckline.

So anyway. Underarm pads aside, this is a pretty awesome (okay, really truly and very awesome) find, and I'm sure I haven't begun to unlock all of this newspaper's amazing secrets, as every time I try to get it out to study it, my children want to climb all over it (it's brittle, folks!) and get a look. I promise that if I find anything else noteworthy, I'll share.

Oh, and The Professor has a great idea: on the day he and my dad finish the tile and prepare to seal up that opening next to the bathtub, they plan on buying an edition of the Trib and putting it, along with this 1938 edition, underneath the tub. Cool, eh? Before he does that, I want to cabbage on to a portion of the 1938 edition and frame it for a wall in the bathroom. I think that would be a nice homage to the history of our home.