Things We've Learned About the Sandwich Shoppe Through Demo

After much demolition and excavation, we've learned a few things about the front half (the dining area) of the Sandwich Shoppe that we ddin't really know before. Destroying stuff works well that way. Just ask the dude who slices stuff in half on the History Channel.

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Ok. I think he's nuts, but I am seriously jealous of his power tools. And I will admit that I like to take things apart. I just think there are easier ways to learn than slicing everything within arms reach.

So... What have we learned?

We now know that the walls of the Sandwich Shoppe were composed of plaster wall board called Beaver Bestwall, a brand patented in 1921 by the Beaver Products company. The company, makers of the "original gypsum wall board" was bought by Certainteed in 1928 (TIME Magazine 1937).

We know that those walls were painted a lovely pale, minty green - very fashionable in the 1940s. We also know that the ceilings were white, but that the crown moulding was painted the same pale, minty green. They left the original siding of the house open to the dining area, rather than covering it with more wall board. We know they used hot water baseboard heating.

We know they had some seriously fashionable and super cute brass fluorescent lighting. We know that the lighting was hooked up by knob and tube wiring.

We know they bothered to insulate the front dining area with asbestos free vermiculite, but not the back kitchen area. We know that they installed super wide 6 inch baseboards (which I love!) in both black...

And dark gray...

And finally, we know that the floor was brown with a black border.

And was made of some kind of fibrous laminate over concrete.

And we know that Caroline walks around barefoot in the Sandwich Shoppe and seriously needs to remove her beach pedicure from the end of July.

What have you learned about your home?