An American woman lost her wallet in the late 1950s at the Plaza Theater, the oldest movie theater and a cultural landmark in Atlanta. Now, 65 years later, he has been found. Contractors discovered the ancient specimen during renovation work in a hidden space behind a crumbled wall in the toilets. The woman’s relatives cannot believe their luck. “This is such a gift.”
Under a pile of dust, in what was once a closet, builders discovered the withered burgundy wallet, frozen in time. A ticket to win a new 1959 Chevrolet, credit cards without a magnetic stripe, family photos in black and white, insurance cards and a note with a doctor’s appointment. Everything was still in the wallet, which remained untouched for decades.
“A portal back in time,” is how Chris Escobar, owner of Plaza Theater, describes the find CNN. He was determined to return the history-packed wallet to the owner’s family. That turned out not to be that easy.
Family history
The owner of the wallet turned out to be Floy Culbreth. But women in those days were often called by their husbands’ names, so a search for Culbreth’s name turned up little. After some research, Escobar and his wife came across the obituary of Roy Culbreth, Floy’s husband. Eventually they ended up with the Culbreths’ daughter, Thea Chamberlain.
Now 71 years old, Thea Chamberlain was just six years old when her mother lost her wallet. The trinkets in the wallet undoubtedly belong to her mother, Chamberlain said. “It was quite moving,” Chamberlain said. “A flood of memories came back, and it brought her back.”
The entire Culbreths family came to collect the wallet. “They had children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with them,” Escobar said. “So there were several generations of Culbreths present to recover this lost piece of family history.” He continues: “To literally give back the family history is such a gift.”
Chamberlain watched as two of her grandchildren, ages seven and five, gingerly looked through the receipts and photos and asked their parents about their history. “They knew it was something to cherish,” she said. “That this was a special moment.”
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