A renovation team working on an Atlanta movie theater had a blast from the past when they uncovered a wallet that someone left in the building over 65 years ago.
A contractor stumbled upon the piece of history after knocking down a bathroom wall of the Plaza Theater, which is the oldest theater in the city. Behind the wall was a room that was once a manager’s office. Inside a closet believed to be an old lost and found laid a tethered wallet from 1958.
The fragile burgundy leather folds held credit cards with no magnetic strips, a raffle ticket to win a 1959 Chevrolet, several black and white family photos, weathered receipts, and more.
The contractor handed it over to owner Chris Escobar, who tracked down the daughter of the woman who lost the wallet all those years ago.
“It was a portal back in time,” Chris told CNN. “And then realizing that this has been missing from this family of real people who lived in this neighborhood for 65 years, imagine if we could find them.”
While it proved difficult, Chris and his wife, Nicole, were able to find the wallet’s owner, Floy Culbreth, with a deep internet search. She sadly passed away in 2005 at the age of 87. However, her daughter, Thea Culbreth Chamberlain, was still living nearby.
Generations Gathered at the Plaza Theater to Reclaim the Lost Wallet
According to the publication, Thea had her extended family gather at the Plaza Theater when Chris returned the wallet.
“We had kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids there with us. So several generations of Culbreths were there to recover this lost piece of family history,” Chris recalled.
“I don’t even know how to say how flabbergasted I was,” Thea told The Washington Post.
Thea, now 71, who was only six when her mother lost the wallet during a trip to the theater, remembered Floy as a “spicy June Cleaver” with a huge heart. Floy was active in a cerebral palsy nonprofit for most of her adult life. She also taught Sunday school and was a favorite of all the neighborhood kids.
Rummaging through the contents made memories come “flooding back.”
“She was in there,” Thea noted. “I know it sounds kind of hokey, but she really was.”
Before meeting the family, Chris had the lost wallet professionally cleaned. Thea told the publication that she is going to have the contents framed so future generations can cherish them for years to come.
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