35mm Slide Show

This property contained a few businesses including a distributor of consumer goods and a mattress store. It’s largely gutted now and most of the contents have been scattered outside. One day I decided to satisfy my curiosity and went inside mainly to shoot some video for you – the viewer. I was inside for approximately 20 minutes when I observed a truck pull up next to my vehicle. The truck had been parked behind a gate, and I commented on the video that I expected I’d be caught.

Just before I noticed the truck, I’d found a metal box filled with several 35 mm photo slides.

The owner wasn’t sure what to expect of me, but I quickly reassured him that I meant no harm. The man was polite but did insist that I leave. He said that he was in the process of securing the property. And sure enough, the next day there were boards on the front doors.

Fast forward to about a week later. I’ve always been interested in old slides, because they tell a tale of life before social media where everything one does today is put on the internet. They date back to prior eras that fascinate me. I wonder what happened to the people in the photos, are they still alive? I marvel over the retro decorum of the houses.

This week I passed by the property and noticed that the truck was back in front of the building and the door barricades had been removed. I did something that I’ve not done before. I pulled into the lot and asked the man if he remembered me. He didn’t initially as he said that he’s had to chase several people off the property. Some of them are scrappers, some are looking for things to steal, and some even claim to own the property. In fact someone had been back to break through the doors that I’d seen barricaded with plywood.

I was straight to the point. I explained that there were some slides inside that I’d be interested in scanning in for historical purposes. The man initially said that he couldn’t part with anything as it was part of his family’s estate that had to be settled. I presume his parents had passed away leaving the property behind. I said that I’d like to purchase the slides. This changed his disposition and he asked me how much? I made him an offer and with that, he went inside and retreived the slides.

I can publish these images to you, with the permission of the former owner. I told him that if I found anything of interest on the slides, I’d let him know – and I joked that hopefully there were no nudes. I believe that the people shown in the images would be the man’s parents.