Some workers during construction found a small black purse while dragging out cabinets of the old science room. It happened in January of 2019. The purse was tiny and small. Construction workers could not understand what to do with it so they gave it to the authority. On further inspection, it was revealed that the purse was 7 decades old. And the content of the purse sparked curiosity among the people who heard about. Why was it so?Read on to find out.

Old Purse

The purse looked the most ordinary ones. It had a lot of stuff cramped inside it that gave an idea of how the people in those time used to stay. The purse consisted of an old tissue that had a coral-colored lip stain on it, lipstick, compact, and a pin. The purse also held a Juicy Fruit gum. This was not it, there were a Jefferson High School 1953-54 basketball team’s old bus schedule and fixture listing.

Franklin Court Building

The construction was going on Franklin Court building closer to Court Avenue. The place was to be converted into a new downtown elementary school. Which has to be completed by 2020.

Owner

By the content, it was clear that the owner of the purse was a woman. But what attracted attention the most was a handwritten note tucked inside it. Not to mention the note was quite old and was little torn from the corners. The note was written to Marty, a girl. It was from a lovestruck teenager who asked Marty to be with her on a prom. 

In Demand

It seemed Marty was quite in demand in those days. The note read, “I’ve heard that Paul has asked you to go to the prom with him — if he hasn’t I would like very much to take you. Love, Torchy. P.S. If you have already consented to go with Paul please forget that I have asked. If he has asked but you haven’t consented yet please consider my invitation.”

Martha Ina Ingham

Later it was found out that Marty was actually Martha Ina Ingham. Her wallet was tucked somewhere in the bag and had her ID along with a Social Security Card. The ID belonging to 1955 revealed that Ingham was a senior at Jefferson High School. So, the woman should be in her 80s right now.   

1954

There were some basketball schedules and newspaper clippings that Ingham had lost the bag somewhere else in 1954. Seventy years had flown by but the purse remained in oblivion in the school science room. Chances were that Ingham would not be remembering at all about this place.