By Jack BeresfordShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA woman who picked up a vintage picture frame on a visit to the thrift store found something unexpected hidden inside.
Haley Rodgers from West Virginia, was looking through items at the Queen City Flea Market in Cumberland, Maryland, when something caught her eye. “I found a crate full of vintage frames,” Rodgers told Newsweek. “This one ornate frame caught my attention first. Then I saw the beautiful couple in the photo and knew I had to get it—especially since it was only two bucks.”
The photo was taken on their wedding day. Looking at the date written on the back of the photo, Rodgers noticed the couple in the picture were called Joe and Jane and they had tied the knot on August 14, two days after her and her husband’s anniversary. “It was super cool to discover,” she said. “I love all things vintage, antique, personal and homemade.” Rodgers isn’t alone in her appreciation of thrift stores.
...With over 25,000 resale, consignment and not-for-profit resale shops scattered across the U.S., according to data compiled by Capital One Shopping, thrifting is becoming a popular pastime for millions of bargain hunters. It’s not just about bargains or turning a profit on a thrift store item though. Sometimes these pieces come with a story and a long-forgotten personal history. Every now and then, the buyer gets a glimpse of that history.
That was the case with Rodger and the picture frame. “I actually bought the frame to add a print to it as a gift for my friend’s nursery,” Rodgers said. “But when I took the original photo out, I found another photo.”
This picture was of a younger man, quite possibly Joe in his teenage years. Turning it over, Rodgers learned the picture had been taken when the young man in it was 17 and enlisted in the Navy. “I was excited, and even more surprised when I realized there was writing on the backs of them. I immediately took out my phone and started recording,” Rodgers said.
The resulting video was posted to TikTok under the handle @handmadebyhaley2017. It’s been watched almost 100,000 times. When Rodgers first posted the discovery to TikTok, she hoped it might yield some information about Joe and Jane. That hasn’t been the case so far. “I have tried looking up information on the couple, per comment recommendations, but I haven’t been able to come up with anything,” Rodgers said. “There are over 100 vendors at this flea market, and I don’t know who the vendor is to ask where they got the photos from.”
...Even if she doesn’t ever reunite the pictures with their rightful owners, Rodgers was delighted at the discovery of the extra photo and the additional context it provided to the couple’s life in the image. “I decided to share it because I found it interesting and figured others would as well,” she said. “With all the hustle and bustle of technology, I think we all enjoy connecting to the past in a way that isn’t tech related.”
Rodgers has not given up hope of finding Joe and Jane’s family, even if it is a long shot. “It would be super cool if someone had connections and was able to figure out who these people were, maybe find living relatives and see if they had any insight on who these people truly were.”
Anyone who might have information is encouraged to reach out to Rodgers on social media.
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