Something caught their attention as they tore down the walls and floors for a renovation. “How odd,” they thought, when they noticed something sticking out from the floorboard. But they kept on working. Then, they saw what the object was when they pulled the rest of the floorboards apart. The object was brown, plastic, and in great condition, but when they looked closer, they were baffled by what they saw. The object was a wallet! And the contents inside piqued their curiosity even further.
The Talent Factory in Nevada, Iowa, was a comedy club that had been around for a long time. So naturally, the building had undergone a number of renovations. But this was the first time it helped solve a mystery. The Talent Factory owner, Larry Sloan, was shocked when he found the wallet, which was 71 years old! But who did it belong to?
When a wallet goes missing, cops usually get involved. So why had this wallet been lying under the floorboard of The Talent Factory unclaimed? More importantly, who had placed it there? Was it intentional or an accident? And were they 71 years too late to return it to its rightful owner?
Larry and his workers were awestruck by the pristine condition the wallet was in. Somehow, it had remained preserved between the floorboards. But there was something different about this wallet. It was made of plastic, so Larry assumed it had belonged to a kid. Then he examined the contents inside, and his perspective changed.
Larry had turned the old movie theater into a comedy club. But the building was built back in the 20s. That meant that several generations had walked in and out of this building over the years. Some had gone on their first dates and had their first kiss here. But nothing in Larry’s experience compared to finding a wallet lost in time for 71 years and with its contents intact.
The movie theater was always packed back in the day. Even people from other towns would come here to watch the very first movies ever made. “I love that, thinking of what kind of history it made,” Larry confessed during an interview about the building itself. He didn’t want the building’s significance to fade away, so he turned it into a comedy club, so it would continue to entertain people for now and several decades to come.
Comedians perform live on stage every day, making hundreds laugh their heads off. But Larry and his workers never imagined they would find a piece of history underneath their feet when they started renovating the building’s interior.
They found the wallet on the building’s third floor, and it was wedged pretty tight into the floorboard. “It was sitting right upon that ledge right there,” said a worker. When they first grabbed the wallet, they assumed someone had recently lost it. Then they opened the object and started sifting through the various contents inside, and it made them quiver with awe and excitement.
Larry told KCI News 8 that: “The wallet was plastic, the first thing that came into my mind was ‘This must be a child’s wallet’ I had no idea how old it would be.” But an incredible discovery awaited him, and all he had to do was open the wallet.
Anything could have been inside that wallet and Larry was about to find it. It might have belonged to an old war veteran or someone famous from the olden days. Whoever the wallet belonged to, he was about to dig into someone’s personal life, so he decided to do so respectfully.
As he swept his fingers across the wallet, he figured it was old. He just didn’t know how old it really was. Then, he found one item inside that totally revealed the wallets true age. But first, he marveled at the fact that the wallet was in such decent shape, despite the brown leather being faded. It might have had something to do with the plastic it was wrapped in. Then he opened the wallet and saw a few unrecognizable items. But other items left him and his men speechless.
The contents inside the medium-sized wallet took everyone’s breath away. There were a couple of items. So, the first thing Larry did was pull out some photographs, which were old and faded. But no one had a clue who they belonged to, so they kept looking.
Then, they discovered something truly unbelievable. World War II ration stamps. The stamps themselves were in mint condition. But how long had this wallet been trapped between the floorboards? Was it possible that it was lost here decades ago?
The World War II era was a rough time period, which explained the ration stamps. But the wallet couldn’t have belonged to a veteran, could it? But if a soldier hadn’t lost it, then who? A civilian? Why hadn’t the rightful owner ever come looking for it?
The men found an old Boy Scout card, too. Its edges were torn, but the card was in decent condition. Larry and his workers realized that the original owner must have lost the wallet long ago, but they weren’t sure how long yet. They were sure of one thing, though. The owner had been part of the Boy Scouts, which meant that they could probably find the owner this way, or so they assumed.
There were a couple of photos of people taken ages ago, but the images had remained in good shape, despite the fact that the wallet had been stuck under the floorboard for many years. The photos included men, women, children, and some elderly folks, too. But they still weren’t sure as to the identity of the owner. Then they took a look at another area of the wallet, and that’s when all the secrets were revealed.
They discovered a faded pocket calendar from the year 1944! Larry and the other men were flabbergasted. Were their eyes deceiving them? Had this wallet really been wedged underneath the floorboards for over 7 decades? They might never have found this historical piece if they hadn’t renovated the comedy club. But one question remained, who did this belong to? And why had they lost it here?
The workers discovered an ID card, which would undoubtedly lead them to the original owner. The name “Clare McIntosh” was written on top of the card in blue ink, and it was smudged. Now they had a name to go with the wallet! But no one was sure if Clare McIntosh was still breathing. Fortunately, Larry had investigative skills, so he put his expertise to work.
All the contents were laid out, but the last piece was a black and white photo of Clare McIntosh. He looked young and wore a suit and tie. But this didn’t give them much to go on. Besides, Clare would have to be well into his 80s, if he was still alive. There was no time to waste and fortunately, Larry knew what to do next.
Larry had a handful of options he could have used in order to find Clare. But the biggest issue here was time. Clare wasn’t a kid anymore, and most people tend to check out in their early to mid-70s. He also lived during war time.
Could Clare have enlisted in the military? In those days, you weren’t really given much of a choice. You got drafted at 18, and that was the end of it. But if Clare had gone to war, did he return safe and sound? Larry feared that he might have been holding the contents of a man who was no longer around.
The ID was handwritten and it stated: “In the event of an emergency contact R.E McIntosh, Iowa, Telephone number 8.” “Wow, that is old,” thought Larry. So, when he started to investigate, he wasn’t sure where to start. “When you’re doing something like that, 71 years later, the hopes of finding him alive and well were kind of small,” Larry explained to KCI News.
Larry never gave up and his persistence paid off when he contacted the right Clare McIntosh. Larry introduced himself to Clare as soon as he walked into The Talent Factory. “So you’re the famous Clare McIntosh,” said Larry, and Clare replied, “Yeah, I guess so.” They both laughed for a bit. But Clare couldn’t believe his wallet had turned up after all this time. He was curious to look at the items he once owned.
Clare McIntosh was 85 years old and assumed his eyes were deceiving him as he looked through his old things. When Larry called him to tell him he had found his wallet, Clare was baffled. He assumed he was referring to his current wallet, which he had on him. But when Larry told him it was his wallet from 1944, his heart skipped a beat.
Clare had lost the wallet when he was 15, which made this moment quite memorable. With tears in his eyes, he identified each and every one of the folks in the photos. “It is unreal; this is my sister, this is my boy scout card…” said Clare as he pointed to every item found. “I thought at first it must be some kind of a joke, and I thought it couldn’t be!” Claire admitted when Larry first called him. Fortunately, he still lived in the area. And when he was asked what he planned on doing with his old wallet, he explained he would treasure it for the rest of his life.