I agree! Plus, I always get inspired to do a quick clean out of things I haven't touched for over a year or more.

​

I used to have a replica Rolex watch that my parents got me from Singapore. It had the screw down crown also.

Sorry for your loss. Gwen sounds like an interesting lady!

❤

I love her house, such a cute place and so many goodies! RIP Gwennie.

Rip

Someone knew them. I didn't take long did it? It was bound to happen.

Toronto*

@@enixon8268there’s always one and you’re it. I was tempted to spell that “your” 😈

@Frances Watts I was not being the grammar police. Just clarifying.

@@franceswatts4001Right? 🙄

​@@enixon8268 Typo...been there, done that. LOL 😆

It might be the cigarette smoke. I would not want a relative’s items if they smoked indoors.

​​@@lcotner5068 but you can easily wash jewellery and glass/China ornaments to remove the cigarette smells. I wish I had a small memento from my elderly relatives

@@lcotner5068 Yes - same. It gave me a 'flashback' from thirty years ago of clearing my parents' house out. They'd both smoked for decades. It stank and most walls and ceilings were brown and 'sticky' with nicotine deposit. Ugh! 'Funnily enough I've never smoked!

I’m my experience, some things that you would not expect are unsalvageable. We tossed most of my childhood toys and books that my parents saved because the plastic, fabric or paper was permanently stained or continued to smell despite cleaning and months of airing them out. Glass or metal might be okay, but many other items are ruined. Cigarette smoke smell is a major migraine trigger for me- it wasn’t worth it to me.

If you close them in a bag with baking soda it can get rid of it also cornstarch works to clean pages of books

And that trunk was lined with cedar wood, as a moth repellent. The yarn should be in good shape.

@@Meyersci amen!

Hi from Australia

The freezer we still use is 54 years old. Bought at JC Penneys

My friends parent house which he inherited had a washer from 1966. Finally died a few years ago. Was hardwired into the panel. No plug he said.

Love me some Kenmore!

Older appliances usually are built to last. New ones are meant to be replaced, so the company can make more money!

​@@Nwladylaura369 Planned Obsolescence

Are you kidding?

@@nancyp.2812 why would they be kidding? Mold is nasty to your health.

@@MarcosCodas because by now he should know and if he is not wearing one then it's his choice, You constantly get two comments on all his clear out videos. 1. Wear gloves and masks. 2. Use a tripod or strap on a GoPro. He has heard it all before and chooses to ignore it. As they saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't force him to drink.

@@WellISaidIt I'd rather have an answer from the person I asked the question to. You don't know what they were thinking when they said that.

@@MarcosCodas be my guest.

Haha I bet!

She just TOLD you she was going to the bingo ... instead she went robbing a bank or a gas station ..

@@franhunne8929 wow! It was dangerous for old ladies!

@@cherifew3485 I was just kidding, Cherryl Few - as I thought of Ma Dalton from LuckyLuke

My mom used to love going to bingo. Sometimes people win big and I wondered if it could be possible for the winners to be robbed. However, I don’t think carrying a small gun would do much, except make a lady feel like she was protected.

The reason you find dimes most of the time it's because everyone carried them for emergencies in case you needed to make a phone call for help how to get a ride home etc etc

My mum's Home Help in the 1970s used to say our old Hoover was so strong compared to modern appliances, that 'it could suck paint off the walls and remove nails from the floorboards!' - It weighted a ton (the Hoover not the Home Help!), and was made in the 1940s...

My first thought was the same as Alex, “Is there a body!”

@@librarynan4610 He showed us the second, he did not open up the first much (there was stuff on the lid) - but there was something DARK in it ...

I loved the carpet too. The chair went well with it.

Wait- what is ‘plotzing’ ? 😂

@@fur_baby_mama 🤣It's Yiddish. It's like... freaking out, in a good way. Edit: I just looked it up. Like so many Yiddish words, it can be both positive or negative.

@@CharlotteIssyvoo I am adding it to my vocabulary!

@@fur_baby_mama Yiddish has so many great words, many of which we already use without realizing they're Yiddish. Klutz, schmuck, schnoz.... So many.

These clean outs are what Alex and family (and friends) do best. RIP to the woman who lived there.

Im sad there is no sign of toy cars… 🤣

I just picked up one Saturday. 5 bucks because it needs to be rewired.

Stained glass is not necessary tiffany

I wish the family would have kept the photos....it makes me sad.

I love this stuff. I would be there for days looking for treasure only because I am retired with nothing else to do. I wish I lived in your area. I would apply for a job with you guys. Great detective work. Carry on.

​@@choochalah sadly its likely they never knew the person in said photos so feel no need for them

@@choochalah It has been his practice to return photos and other things of a personal nature to family members or heirs.

And that's the problem, the stuff stays and some poor soul has to sort it all out and get rid of it. I have learned so much from Alex and other KZfaqrs about clutter and hoards. I have moved my mum into a new little place for her final years and I would not let her bring the clutter. In fact she was really glad to leave it behind. 65 years in the same house and never got rid of anything. She loves her new, bright, clean and comfortable little home and the lack of clutter. Sadly I know have to plough through it all and clear it out to sell the house. The garage and attic I am not looking forward too. There are suitcases of my baby clothes in the attic apparently. I'm 60 in 3 weeks time! Why? This stuff is actually a burden.

NO NO keep it and he can have a big auction and make $ back on it. You'd be amazed at what people will buy. I go to auctions and people love bxs of old stuff.

Me too I got 4kids I give them things and get rid of photo s they do not know the people got small house no were to put things this house is big should have been done long time ago not fair leave all that nanapolly xscotland ☮️

I had the same thought.

I love these clean outs. The last one had some very nice new expensive stuff but this house has a ton of pretty cool older semi expensive stuff!

Yes, remember the pink panther diamond was stored in a jar of face cream. Haha

That's a good tip, I wouldn't have thought of that.

I’m the executor of an estate, and am currently working my way through 48 years of accumulation in a house. I’m having to check everything, because envelopes of cash have been found in the most unlikely places.

@@vanillascooplinda8849 My parents were meticulous in their home management system, but my mom often told me that people of the older generation who came through the tough decades like the 1930s, and the initial post war II years, had a very difficult time letting go of things and would keep items (just in case) and would stash cash around the home because banks were unreliable in their days of youth so they kept cash "just in case".

We bought our home as-is. The previous owner had been moved to a nursing home and then passed away and the house had been unoccupied for 2 years. The family took the appliances (which were supposed to stay) and left a mess. We were a young newlywed couple and we didn’t have the money the buy a new stove and fridge. Some months later I took the curtains down to paint a room and I found an envelope with $2K in cash on top of the curtain rods. We were able to buy the appliances with that money. It was such a blessing.

She got that right. Growing up my father had a women and children's garment factory. Working the industrial press (and that press was heavy) was one of my jobs as was the button hole machine and the machine that sewed the buttons on. the pressing had to be on point otherwise we were made to do it again.

Same with my mother! The ironing board was always set up in her sewing room. Every seam was pressed immediately after being sewn.

Ironing boards aren’t the only thing they built in. My house has a built in icebox in the basement, and a built in dresser upstairs.

Yup! I sew in a teeny tiny bedroom and use a full size standing ironing board and it's nearly become a permanent figure in my room, despite the lack of space... I'd kill to have one built in!

We had a built in ironing board in the house that I lived in as a child. The house was built in the 1940s. It was there that I learned to iron my dad’s handkerchiefs. When they came off the clothesline, mama would sprinkle them with water and set them in the refrigerator until it was time to iron them. This would have been in the 1960’s.

And making me get rid of so much so my kids don't have to deal with it

This is a lifetime of accumulation...some junk...some trash...some treasures...lots of memories that become lost because things just become piles of stuff that the family...if there are any...just does not want or dies not have the time to deal with.

I was thinking the same thing! Then I thought that I should purposely hide something cool!

Oh yes!! I downsized a lot when I moved last year. It has taken some adjustments though.

I am totally the opposite- I emigrated with 2 suitcases - I own nothing of monetary value - Alex would be so disappointed in my collectibles 🤣🤣🤣

Minor details that I lack as well lol!

My feelings exactly

I kept wanting to tell him it was a cedar chest, not a trunk!

@@carolgalpin9334 Me ,too!🤣 hopefully he or Melissa will see our comments.

Made me think of what we used to call a, “Hope Chest.”

My parents married in 1945. I have my mothers, very similar. I have my grandmas too

Good place to keep wool clothes because of the cedar lining.

I was thinking the same thing. The whole house is full of treasures!

Good thinking. I wouldn't have thought of that. They might want the washer dryer.?? Or even some clothing. 😊

I love Danish Modern Furniture and many of the items they call mid century modern are actually Danish Modern furniture! One person called a French Provincial dresser a mid century modern piece of furniture and it amazes me that they don’t know what the type names of furniture are and call it all mid century modern!

How ever "old" the male may be, inside there is still a kid. Women seem to not be that way. Just like a dames looks at a cerain age they fall off a cliffs edge, males just slowly get old.

​@@CreatureOTNight I have seen the looks go both ways.

@@CreatureOTNight It seems Alex is living up to his Channel's name, while Melissa's thinking 'Let's just wait and see - is it actually gonna be worth the hassle and hard work?...' (Though I'm sure both are by now very experienced at 'wading' through houses like this!)

Lol. I feel the same.

Same here!

Go watch the potter's house series. This is nothing.

My Grandma and Great Grandma both had cedar chests like that. My sister has the one that was my Great Grandmas.

My grandmother was 96 when she died (in December 2022), when she was 80 she cleaned out her place and passed on the things she loved to us. We knew the stories of the things, and we learned so much about my grandmother as a young woman. She passed last year but I have the simple necklace she wore on her first date, the spelling bee trophy she got when she was 9 and the story of the words she spelt, and SHE WENT THROUGH ALL HER PICTURES and told us who everyone was, we wrote on the back and now can pass them down for years. I'm so sorry you are ill, but I beg you to make sure your family knows your stories because those are the things that I have and will be able to pass on and on. When I put on that necklace and think of the story of my grandmother dancing with Jim (lol, not my grandpa) to Some Enchanted Evening, I can picture her with the description of the dress her mom made her, pink silk very expensive and she would have still had it but it was lost when she immigrated during the war. I have had so much loss from Covid (5 of my elders in 2 years), but the stories keep my family members alive and I can sometimes laugh and giggle through the tears and think of my poor grandmother who had no idea what an avocado was, but she could spell it! Best wishes, and hopes for ease and peace in your future, I'm so sorry you are going through this! I'm also very sorry for your family. The stoics say we aren't given people we just borrow them for a short time. I can't wait to tell future generations the stories I have acquired and to keep memories alive and vivid of the life she so fully lived. If I can tell the stories she will live on.

@@kittykatmeowers3392 I’m so very glad you have those stories. I’ve heard our stories over and over. My you’ve st got to spend plenty of time with my grandmother, and I’m grateful. Right now I just want quiet times with my grown kids.

So sorry to hear this.

@@FleaChristenson yes, I was lucky! Keep telling those stories and know you can always reach out. I had a friend who passed from terminal cancer and she truly hated platitudes and advice so I'll just send my fuzzy warmest thoughts from rural Nova Scotia. If you ever need anything drop me a line.

@@kittykatmeowers3392 thank you so much for a time I was over the top angry about all the home remedies people insisted I try. Garlic and honey in the microwave?! I finally calmed down and realized that my friends love me and are desperate for my healing. They don’t want to lose me. I finally just started asking if they’d had this type of cancer and if they had used this method to kill the cancer. People finally stopped the suggestions. I get it. I do. But in seven years I’ve also learned to just listen to people. They’ve struggled with their pain and loss. Talking to me is some kind of relief and absolution. So I just listen. It’s been, besides the recent pain, a relatively good experience. My relationships with my husband and our grown kids have helped changed and improved dramatically. A lot has changed for the better. Now I’m actively seeking out pretty widows for my husband. 😁

Can’t wait to see all the treasures you will find .love watching you guys I’m in The US love in Missouri you are awesome

Beautifully said