They kept everything.

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My Grandparents kept everything, and it all ended up in my lap. This collection of stuff ranged from the cool (WWII V-Mail from my Uncle Frank) to the "you've got to be kidding me" (receipts from a trip taken in the 50s). I've weeded out a lot of the nonsense and kept the more interesting (at least what was interesting to me). In turn I decided to create this site to not only post some items, but also as a research exercise. Most items are from Chicago and Detroit, but of course family trips expanded their reach of hoarding. I hope you enjoy this very random collection. Frank Kownacki

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I have no clue as to what this old button is about. It was found among some other old pins that I know came from either my German or Irish side of the family. I did some various Google searches and nothing came up that I can relate to this item. I do know that it is from the early part of the 20th Century, and came from Chicago. Maybe it is related to The Great Depression (soup kitchens and the like). Do any of you happen to know what this little button is about?

I have no clue as to what this old button is about. It was found among some other old pins that I know came from either my German or Irish side of the family. I did some various Google searches and nothing came up that I can relate to this item. I do know that it is from the early part of the 20th Century, and came from Chicago. Maybe it is related to The Great Depression (soup kitchens and the like). Do any of you happen to know what this little button is about?

This (U.S.) nickel sized token is a bit of a mystery. I’ve scoured the internet, and even posted this to a website for collectors of oddities and rarities but to no avail. My initial thoughts were that this could be another Civil War token, but a collector of such items said that he couldn’t find it in his books and he didn’t think it was that old. Looking at the shield I would think it was, but I noticed that the old Civil War tokens were in general .01 to .03 cents. So .11 cents seems a bit out of place. The other option I came up with is maybe it was a souvenir from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition World’s Fair held in Buffalo (the one that President McKinley was assassinated at), but I can’t find any evidence to support this theory. I found a few that had been sold on Ebay and the like, yet absolutely no background info. So at this point I’m stuck. Do you know what this is?

This (U.S.) nickel sized token is a bit of a mystery. I’ve scoured the internet, and even posted this to a website for collectors of oddities and rarities but to no avail. My initial thoughts were that this could be another Civil War token, but a collector of such items said that he couldn’t find it in his books and he didn’t think it was that old. Looking at the shield I would think it was, but I noticed that the old Civil War tokens were in general .01 to .03 cents. So .11 cents seems a bit out of place. The other option I came up with is maybe it was a souvenir from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition World’s Fair held in Buffalo (the one that President McKinley was assassinated at), but I can’t find any evidence to support this theory. I found a few that had been sold on Ebay and the like, yet absolutely no background info. So at this point I’m stuck. Do you know what this is?

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