It's a true opportunity to sit down with someone who has owned an historic home, but who also has a rich and vibrant memory of their own history. This is John Reed. As superintendent of Newtown CT schools, he and I collaborated on a series called "Schools and Schooling." John with his vast knowledge of education, and me with my community studio anxious to have as many people use as possible. We were able to give high school students the opportunity to participate in the creation of TV programming and consider it as a possible career path.
John is moving from a house that was built as the first Library in Newtown in 1900. Small in stature but built to last, an it has, with just a few alterations in the 1930s to transform it in to a residence.
This first episode of season 3 was created to promotion for the sale this very weekend. While you may be reading this after the fact, consider the quest for hidden history your opportunity to see and touch the past before it os gone forever.
"10 buildings on one street in Greenwich, CT to be demolished" was all Martin Blanco and I needed to hear, and we were on our way to hunt for history, or get stuck in an attic while the wrecking ball moved closer. It was hot and exhausting and mostly empty, but we made the most ofit and found some treasure along the way.
In this quick episode Martin and I grab the gear and head to Hastings on Hudson to look for the elusive Wire Recorder used in the film "Death of a Salesman" which featured Dustin Hoffman. The home of a long-time film industry sound editor is also the place where numerous film props he collected can be purchased. Take a look at them while Matin and I power tossing a brick (prop) at either Frank Whalley or Nathan Lane.
"Stories From The Attic" Podcast:
A colonial estate in Wilton, CT is the setting for this episode. Greg and Martin stay in the Backyard and use a very old doll house to show where the treasure is sometimes hidden. Examples of things found in an old house are: A bag of 75 year old bird seed; An 1863 almanac from Rhode Island; An 19th century unopened jar of smoke flavor for meat, which ends the problem of your smoke house burning down all the time.
The dig so big...it needed two episodes. Note: we are taping shorter episodes now, and in the future they may get shorter. You're busy; we get that.
Back in the studio, Martin Blanco and I review the journey to Wilton and share before and after footage of the non-hoarder hoard. There was a lot in this house but the owners were just doing what everyone else tries to do - Live a full life and save little pieces of it.
When it's time to clear out and you want to keep history from becoming lost, and then have it preserved - somehow - call us first.
A "hoard" can mean a lot of things. (I'll let that sink in.) The word is most often associated with someone who is a hoarder. That term is most often associated with someone usually living in putrefying conditions often as partly caused by a mental disorder. Let me clear up a few things. Not all hoards come from hoarders; not all hoards are in putrefying conditions.
Those who have lived a full life often lose sight of the first things they saved from work or family. As such, the last things they saved tend to erase the memory of the previous things. The inert matter, wood, fabric, paper decomposes at such a slow rate, the owner is unaware of its condition by the time they have to move to a more manageable sized living situation.
The point is - we can neither fault them for having these things amass, nor blame them for not curating them like they were museum pieces. Because of the owners' longevity, the things they collected are actually museum items. They have value because they are rare, they are nostalgic, which others appreciate, but conversely we cannot judge the owner for not having left these relics to us in the best condition. Truthfully, when they were stored, it was never for the purpose of public or economic appreciation.
The hoard, as it is titled, is a good example of how things can accumulate over time and become a blight and a slight against historic preservation. Merely a victim of circumstance we came to this house, not to bury, but to genuinely praise the owner, or one of them. it was too big for one 'cast, please stay connected for part 2 - the transition is amazing.
In this episode Greg and Martin must lay low as they reveal Confidential documents, essentially case files from the Counter Intelligence Corps as they operated in Italy after its liberation from the Fascist regime of Mussolini. Learn how Greg discovered these papers and how these samples of primary history reflect the arduous task of protecting citizens and keeping Italy safe from espionage and insurrection and further collapse. The gold in these documents is the challenge of this branch of intelligence to hunt down all leads and report on even the most mundane or mis-understood accusations. The first cases we chose at random are jaw-dropping and hilarious at the same time. Thank you for subscribing! There will be more to come if the ghosts of the CIC do come to get us first.
In this episode, Martin Blanco and I share our reaction to several newly discovered vintage commercials from the 1960s and 70s. Among the hidden history are often the products of a long career in advertising. These are just a few of the commercials, which prompted the creation of a new YouTube Channel! Retro-Media https://youtube.com/@retro-media411?si=qVIbQjF_hMLFGG_-This will be the place for not only Vintage commercials but Podcast extras from the studio recording sessions and a landing place for all the found media discovered during my expeditions. reel to reel tapes, records, cassette bits and more. please subscribe to Retro Media.
We love our wives. Don't be mistaken. However, in the hidden history left behind, Greg has uncovered proof that love, While a many splendid thing, is not easy. From the pages of a 1797 preceptor on marriage to a 1950's era contract to promise to "not cheat." Love is anything but easy.
It is also fun. Please join us on this continuing journey to preserve the past which is slipping through our fingers just a little faster than our future. We must save one, to save the other.
"Are you taking a tone with me!?" was an alternate title for this premiere episode of season 2. In it Greg and Martin track the correlation of sound used in early tech to trigger vintage computers, relays and switching gear. But not before being accosted by James Can who castigates anyone who's afraid to give blood. You don't to be a techie to watch! Just open a vein, leave a message, have a bowl of Capt. Crunch and turn out the lights with the original "clapper" before you leave. Important note: Don't toss anything before passing it by Martin and myself. This podcast is all about the cool bits of the past that almost got away. Visit the show site here: https://www.foundastory.com/podcast
In this final episode of season 1, Greg and Martin spent 30 of your precious minutes examining this big budget special and revealing how great talent can be wasted at the hands of corporate oversight. As a teaser, you'll see: A vegetarian hawk (or, is he?); A mole, happy to hoard the last bit of food in the forest; woodsmen who consider the Xmas tree to be lowest form of a tree's use; parents who allow their seemingly invalid daughter to go missing in sub-freezing temperatures; finally, a tiny tree that has a mouth, yet is unable to speak. All wrapped around a Bill Cosby commercial that shows both his and the Bell System's disdain for children.
This special involves the nearly wasted talents of: Charlie Couch, Fritz Freling, Roberta Flack (edited out to prevent infringement) Music by Johnny Marks, and the voice talents of Buddy Ebsen, Paul Winchell, Frank Welker and others.
"Greg finds things at estate sales that no one else seems to notice as valuable." -This could be said of any collector, Greg just happens to have a passion for anything he's never seen.
This podcast, available through YouTube and Apple Podcasts is hosted by Greg Van Antwerp and Martin Blanco. Their goal is to encourage people to get searching for hidden history, preserve the past, while educating others how to find these missing gems before they are gone forever.
Greg provides live multi-media performances customized to a variety of topics on history and education in a light-hearted look at the things we collect and the things that were almost lost forever.
The papers often ignored in a home about to be sold or demolished are the remnants of journeys and the souvenirs of meals enjoyed. These bits, or bites, of hidden history are a window to the past that reveal, among other things, lost epicurean delights, famous or infamous locales now erased, and the woes of inflation. Sirloin Steak for .40 cents!? Gimmie!
Greg Van Antwerp and Martin Blanco revel and reveal some of the more odd and interesting foods and places that may just be gone for good, and ask the question, "Is that good?"
The goal of this podcast is to entertain, educate and encourage preservation. We are always looking for more content and the opportunity to preserve and share history while teaching others. Reach out in the comments if you see history being tossed or want to learn more. Greg provides a multi-media presentations to audiences that includes a traveling museum to interact with.
The Stories from the Attic podcast is back with a new episode!
This time Martin and I go on location to a 100 year-old attic in New Milford, Connecticut to reveal the found letters, postcards and artwork correspodence sent to a resident during World War II. This is recorded at an actual estate sale just before the enthusiastic crowd arrives and what you get is a sweet and surprising 20 minutes of history and it gets even better when the shoppers show up.
Thanks Loretta Kretchko of Kretchko Estate Sales Services for letting us in before the crowds to record.
How can being a Boy Scout in 1947 and going to the international jamboree end so badly? How did people entertain themselves in a visual medium that predates film? The answer to these and other questions you never thought to ask will be answered in this 24 min commercial free podcast.
This time Greg and Martin are the early birds and set up the podcast right out in front of an Estate Sale before the crowds show up. The audacity! Thanks to Windy Cats Estate Sales for giving us permission to experiment with mobile recording.
In this episode Greg and Martin uncover 2 never before heard cuts on vinyl. Well, if you were watching regional TV in the Albany NY region in 1972, maybe you did hear or even see this. “Pick a show” was a TV trivia program where contestants were called at random to answer questions for money. Look for deeper cuts on upcoming episodes. The second segment features a dryly humorous annual family greeting with strangely high production value.
Both rare and fun to discover in a Connecticut basement.
You can also watch the YouTube version with visuals here:
https://youtu.be/ykUbPzeQ5ok
In this episode Greg and Martin read letters regarding a WWI soldier who has been wounded on the battlefield and is missing in action. Can his wife handle the bad news? Will Aunt Bertha get someone in touch with the consulate in Berlin? Can we, the audience, trust a military administrator named PP Chute? Listen and watch as Greg and Martin uncover the details and learn about the ruth(full?)ness of the Saxons!
Watch the the YouTube version (with images!) here: https://youtu.be/zJPx2LZdI7Y
In this episode Greg and Co-host Martin Blanco take some early 20th Century Herbal Medications (No, we didn't Take'em Take them!) found in an attic and review the interesting packaging and promises made to cure "all." Another estate sale find creates some lost moments as we try to suppose just what the Quack medical industry was trying to accomplish at the time.
See the full visual version on YouTube! https://youtu.be/rY8JSFUNJxA
In this episode of Stories from the Attic Greg and Martin review an amazing dig in a home just prior to it being cleaned out. History was saved, blood was shed but we all escaped much wiser. You will to.
See the Youtube video version (caution! not for the faint of heart!):
https://youtu.be/J1FSDMmFPg0
