OH MY GOODNESS... Did I hit the jackpot!

Julius Xavier · May 15, 2006

So as many of you know I'm moving to San Diego in approx 14 days. So I went to spend some time with my mother on Mother's Day (go figure) and while I was there my father brought me an old grey metal box and told me to take a peek through it... thought that I might enjoy some of the things inside.

Upon opening it discovered it was one of MANY of my Grandfathers old boxes. My grandfather Julius Chrzanowski (Julius is my middle name) was born on April 12, 1915 and was a Navy man. Some of the items in this box are AMAZING. Here is just a peek at what I've discovered so far.

This is some kind of Government ID issued to my Grandpa. You can see he's in his Navy Uniform

This should come in handy in San Diego, it's only 69 years outdated...

One of my Grandpa's school books? The second picture is a picture he drew of our Solar System... at the top he wrote "The new planet that has just been discovered"

Someone my Grandpa knew. It's not my Grandma.

My Grandma in a wedding party.

To everyone returning from NY. Radio City 1934

This is a Voice-O-Graph which was like a phonebooth you step into and record a message on this metal disc and it can be played on any record player... now I just have to find a record player.

This allowed my Grandfather to purchase one pint or fraction thereof of distilled spirits when presented at any government store. It is dated on the back with a stamp reading 16Sept1943.

V-Mail which I suppose is a way to conserve paper and such.

More to come in next post.

-DocIndyJones

Julius Xavier · May 15, 2006

Jackpot part 2

Letters Grandpa sent to his Mother. All envelope artwork done by him.

Piles of Love Letters to and from my Grandma.

Haven't gone threw it yet but this is all of Grandpa's Military Records.

Grandpa's Registration Card.

My Grandpa's Dog Tags.

Old Family Photo when my Grandpa was young.

A Mirror my dad believes to be his Grandma's

The Best is Yet to come-
DocIndyJones

Julius Xavier · May 15, 2006

Jackpot part 3

Okay I guess my Grandfather took my Grandmother out to dinner to ask her to marry him. This was the place.

Yes it is true the most exspensive thing on the menu is the Sirloin at $1.75

Guess they where out of Scotch or Grandpa wasn't a Scotch man.

This is what he wrote on the back of the menu.

And here is my Grandma on her wedding day.

I still have 3 or 4 more boxes at my Dad's house he want's me to go through and personally I can't wait!

-DocIndyJones

Strider · May 15, 2006

Those are some great items. Very happy for you.:eusa_clap

Hemingway Jones · May 15, 2006

What a wonderful gift to get an insight into a family member like that.

I especially like his drawings of planes. I believe I see a Sikorsky 43 on the right there.

Great stuff.

Feraud · May 15, 2006

Those are wonderful family heirlooms you have been shown. It is good to see people holding on to and passing along mementos. I know you will do the same when it is entrusted to you.

Marc Chevalier · May 15, 2006

You have your grandparents' life there. Those pieces are beyond evaluation. Especially exciting is the little record ... could it have your grandfather's voice on it, as he sounded when a young man? How incredible that would be!!

Congratulations!!!

Lauren · May 15, 2006

Wow! That's amazing! Congrats on the really cool family history you have there!

Johnnysan · May 15, 2006

WOW...

An incredible find...truely amazing given the "throw-away" mentality of today. Marc is right, this is a treasure beyond price. Follow your dad's example and guard them well...future generations will thank you! Congratulations and enjoy, Doc!

Jake · May 15, 2006

Great find Doc, maybe it's my imagination, but the woman in uniform looks like Kirsten Dunst of Spiderman fame.

Julius Xavier · May 15, 2006

Jackpot

My girl thought she favored Kristin Dunst as well. As far as the stuff goes my father has had it since my Grandfather passed away about 16 years ago. He wasn't sure what to do with all of it so he just held on to it. Well after my dad started relizing that I was obsessed with this time period and that it wasn't just some fad I was going through he decided to entrust all of my grandfather's things to me. Some of these items are amazing to look at up close. I'll be driving to the QM this year and will be bringing alot of it along to show and share so other people have a chance to look at it up close.

-DocIndyJones

Benny Holiday · May 16, 2006

Priceless items

Your Dad did a great thing holding onto those family treasures. Thanks for sharing them with us, they are amazing!

Novella · May 16, 2006

That is fantastic! Thanks for sharing - it's fun to have a peak into your grandpa's life.

Strider · May 16, 2006

Don't forget, I'll tape those records for you, pal.

Etienne · May 16, 2006

Hi, DocIndyJones, those are wonderful treasures! When our Dad and Mom passed away 3 years ago, we decided as a family to keep all of those really important treasures in my Dad's navy locker (trunk). It's chock full of every scrap of memorabilia from their lives--from birth certificates to school papers and awards, report cards, navy uniforms, photographs, love letters tied with ribbons, dancing shoes and wedding memorabilia. There are 6 of us "kids" and we will rotate that trunk every few years for one of us to do the safeguarding. (And another cool thing is that my Dad used to be called in by MGM studios to do small parts in movies that required an altar boy. Because the school was across the street from the studios, he would be given permission to work there. Tommy Kelly, the young boy who played Tom Sawyer in the original movie, was my Dad's good friend, and the two of them appeared in a number of old movies as altar boys. Two years or so before he died, I bought the VHS version of two of those movies and gave them to him. He cracked up watching them! What an amazing thing to see him as a 12 year old boy in those films as he sat there at 76 years old! Isn't life amazing?! I look forward with joy to meeting YOU at the QM, young man!

Twitch · May 16, 2006

What neat bunch of stuff! Makes me wonder if relatively any of our descendants will be interested in out junk when it's 60-70 years old.:fedora:

Marc Chevalier · May 16, 2006

Naah!

Matt Deckard · May 21, 2006

Jackpot indeed, that stuff is totally rad.. good job!

BellyTank · May 21, 2006

Congratulations on a score!

Was Hemingway's sweater in there too, or was it on eBay..?

B
T

Sachet · May 21, 2006

Wow!

What wonderful treasures for you!!

I find the artwork on the letters to be especially delightful. Those would be quite the conversation piece if you could frame them in a shadowbox. Guests could admire your grandfather's talent and endearing sense of whimsy.

OH MY GOODNESS... Did I hit the jackpot!

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