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cjforshi

Lurker
Aug 9, 2019
4
0
Please check out my profile to see a picture of the 'box'. The boxes journey started when i went to help an older coworker move out of her condemned house, once a beautiful three story home in the oldest neighborhood in Des Moines. I went to help move her animals out as the city was tearing what was left of it down. It was the home she was born in and her family had always owned, so she resisted moving for many years, but even she had finally given up. The third floor had caved in back in the early 70's, and the roof and second floor all caved in in the 90's. Only half of the first floor was navigatable, and only in the kitchen were you out of the rain. Anywhere else you could see the sky. Unfortunatly, several of her cats had taken refuge in the rubble and wouldnt come out, and literally, with bulldozers sitting outside, i told her i would go in and try and get them. She had no family and no other friends able to help so i had to see what i could do. She waited in the kitchen with carriers while i started climbing the interior of the house. Getting to the second level wasn't too difficult because half of the stairs were still there, but maneuvering around on rotten beams was kinda tricky. Certain sections were still there and seemed at least weight bearing, but whole sections were gone. It ended up being a lucky day in more ways than one. One of the two cats i was trying to get came right up to me, and i easily handed him down. The other was scared and hiding in a corner, but managed to get him in a carrier and back to the stairs. Mission complete! ....but, not quite, lol, during my second floor hunt i had noticed what looked like an access panel box on the wall on what was once the third floor. All the walls and flooring had caved in many years ago so you could see the walls that were once bedrooms. I was asking her where that led to, thinking it was an access box because it looked like part of the wall. She said her brother used to keep his pipes in there. I was confused, thinking water pipes inside the wall? Up in the bedroom? She was like 'no' idiot, it's a box hanging on the wall that her brother kept her tobacco pipes in. DUHH. Now i got it. I asked her what was in it and she said shr had no idea. She hadn't been up there since the 70's and wasn't even sure if there was anything in it. She said her brother collected pipes before ww2, went off to war, and thinks he continued when he returned, but wasn't exactly sure.The idiot lightbulb went off in my head. I knew one way or another i was going to see what was in that box, now i just needed to figure out how. lol. It was on a wall 10 feet up and about 15 feet out from the only safe place to stand on the second floor. I could stand right there and see it but just no way to reach it. I had no ladder or equipment with me, and it was now or never so i had to improvise. I took the longest rotten 4×4 beam i could find and propped it up on the wall right under the box. Once i wedged it in good, i started using other beams and planks to build a 'bridge' up to it and hold my weight. The first part of my plan worked great, and i shimmied right up to it. I could see it alot better now and saw that it originally hung from a wire at the top of the box but it was busted and rusted away years ago, so i figured it was screwed or bolted down. I then pulled the handle and the doors were stuck shut from the years of dust, grease, and grime, but it did finally pop open and WOW, what a shock. Inside was a full case of pipes. I instantly wanted to start digging in, but now wasn't the time. Now i needed to figure out what to do. I'm standing 15ft out on rotten out wood, now hanging on to the box for support. And no matter how hard i looked i couldnt find the screws or bolts or whatever was holding it to the wall. My only other recourse was to tie up my shirt and use it as a basket and grab the pipes and run before i broke my neck. But man, i really wanted the box too. So i just decided to go neanderthal and bust up the wall and rip it off if i could, just hoping not to break it or drop it. I grabbed it firmly and gave it hard pull, hopefully finding a loose spot i could start working it out of the plaster walls. What i did NOT expect was it to come off in my hands like nothing. And why? Because NOTHING was holding it to the wall except for dried paint around the edges where they had painted around the box several times over the years and thick greasy layers of dust from bygone days. And that was a surprise considering how heavy the box is, which is where the part of my plan didnt work out quite so well for me. I was NOT expecting it to be that heavy, and as soon as that weight was off the wall and in my hands, AND thats what i was holding on too, things went awry quick. The whole 'bridge' i was standing on abruptly dropped six or so inches and it was all moving. Here i was standing out on it, two hands holding on to this box, balacing myself with my elbow on the wall, quickly realizing the gravity of my situation. Thats when the idiot light went on again and said 'why do you always listen to me idiot'. lol. Well, knowing this wasn't a stalemate, i was about to lose, i was determined not to lose my prize. I quickly lowered the box onto my bridge which was about level now, and started to slide it back over the plank toward the landing, feeling it drop lower with each step. I already picked out a 'drop zone' below for when it gives out but i didnt want to drop the box and shatter it, and at that last second when it busted, i slid it real hard down the plank onto the landing and jumped. Fortunatly it slid right where i aimed it and i was able to climb back up and grab it. Now mission complete!! I did get a few knicks n scratches but no war wounds. Then the fun started, checking out all the cool pipes and accessories. I first removed all the pipes and started cleaning the box. The surprises didn't end either. As i started washing the paint, grease n grime with murphys oil, it turns out it has a glass front to the case. There was so much gunk on it, it looked just like the rest of the box. The interior had a green felt cover(similar to a pool table), and if you ran your finger through it, a green cloud of dust developes(toxic felt dust?lol). I took it outside and swept it out and vaccuumed it and it all came right off. I relined it with a red cloth. The metal clips at one time had a rubber like cover on them but it 'powdered' off too, and i just cleaned up the metal clips and reused them. All the wood cleaned up really nice with murphys oil, ALOT of elbow grease, and lemon oil. The pipes i dont know too much about, i am not a collector, but they are from the 30's-50's era type pipes in various conditions but most seem pretty nice. The stuff inside the case didnt have the years of dust, etc., but the pipes looked 'dry'?, so i wiped them down with a little lemon oil and man, they really came to life.....and they've been living on my wall ever since. And that's the story of how the pipe box escaped the bulldozers(along with two cats!!). Hope you enjoyed my tale. G'day.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
That's one mighty long paragraph! (Don't think I'm up to plowing through it.)

Is this the box in question?

20180828_023402-600x450.jpg


 

cjforshi

Lurker
Aug 9, 2019
4
0
Yes, this is the box. I thought others would appreciate it's journey through life. G'day and fair tidings.

 

cjforshi

Lurker
Aug 9, 2019
4
0
I am going to post some individual pics of some. I wrote down what markings i found on them on a tag but i am unsure what they mean yet. I am slow, but i will be adding some pics on here shortly. Thanks

 

redglow

Lifer
Jan 7, 2019
1,822
4,043
Michigan
Congrats on getting your hands on "the box". That can be a challenge under certain circumstances.
Mission accomplished!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Looks like some nice pipes there. Despite my better judgement, I waded into the text, and it's a pretty good yarn. Some paragraph breaks and a little editing might help, but it is action-packed. That's called paying your dues for a pipe collection.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
cjforshi, I'm hoping you're a young fella, or if not, that you work in tree service or some other high wire act. After a certain age, people shouldn't try this stuff. Balance goes a little off, and mending (healing) takes forever. But good job to do what you did and get away with it. Churchill said, nothing is more satisfying than being shot at and missed.

 
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