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German WWII Uniform Coats
In my prior life (up to 20 years ago), I owned a theatrical and masquerade shop. The business was destroyed by fire, but I was able to retrieve a few things in the aftermath. Amongst the retrieved costumes were three WWII German uniform coats (under the Nazi regime, but not necessarily Nazi uniforms).
They languished (in wardrobe storage bags) in my basement for years, but I recently had them dry cleaned and have yet to remove them back to the basement.
This morning, I was checking out the labels and other markings so as to research the manufacturers; and while on the internet, there was this loud crash in my utility room where the coats are temporarily housed. Nothing on the floor or damaged and no sign of the cat (until I enticed her from her hiding place with a special kitty treat).
A week ago, there was a loud crash beneath my desk and near my legs. And again there was nothing. I have heard several other less-than-disturbing sounds coming from the utility room as well.
I have been vacillating between keeping or selling these coats. I have no emotional attachment to them and they might be worth a few bucks; and yet they are one of the last vestiges remaining from my business.
I'm not afraid nor even alarmed; but thought you might find this story interesting.
They languished (in wardrobe storage bags) in my basement for years, but I recently had them dry cleaned and have yet to remove them back to the basement.
This morning, I was checking out the labels and other markings so as to research the manufacturers; and while on the internet, there was this loud crash in my utility room where the coats are temporarily housed. Nothing on the floor or damaged and no sign of the cat (until I enticed her from her hiding place with a special kitty treat).
A week ago, there was a loud crash beneath my desk and near my legs. And again there was nothing. I have heard several other less-than-disturbing sounds coming from the utility room as well.
I have been vacillating between keeping or selling these coats. I have no emotional attachment to them and they might be worth a few bucks; and yet they are one of the last vestiges remaining from my business.
I'm not afraid nor even alarmed; but thought you might find this story interesting.
Was it Psychic or Psychosis?
Was it Psychic or Psychosis?
Reminiscent of a turn-of-the-century house (late 1890s), it was a three story, white frame building with two wings gently sloping away from the main section. It might even look ominous at night had it not been well lit. It was a relatively new structure, built six or seven years ago. Until recently, I assumed it to be an office building.
In my lifetime, I have never been called psychic. Psychotic, occasionally; but never psychic.
But one night about three years ago, as I was driving past this building , very clearly in my minds eye, I saw flames shooting from the windows of the second floor of this building. It seemed as though it might have emanated from a parlor room or a common room of some sort. I sensed a death to be associated with this yet-to-occur fire. I didn’t experience a feeling of being inside the building, but rather saw this from an outside view. What I saw was VERY real.
I shared this with a few friends at the time, and was adamant that a fire would occur sometime in the future, maybe a week or perhaps a hundred years from now, but it would happen.
Each time I passed that site for the next two or so years, I had a similar, but less intense sense that a fire would eventually occur.
Several weeks ago, I was watching television and the newscasters were reporting on a fire at a nursing facility. I recognized the building as the building that I had the ‘dream’ about. The newscasters stated the fire started on the first floor and was extinguished without serious damage. They also reported that there was an unrelated (to the fire) death of a patient during the fire.
A fire. A death. Was it a premonition? Was it coincidental? Was this the incident that I saw or is it yet to come?
All I know is that the several times that I have passed that building since, I have had no more sense of impending doom for that location.
This was the second ‘paranormal’ experience for me. The first being a recurring dream about a fire to my business. And it also happened.
It's getting scary!
Reminiscent of a turn-of-the-century house (late 1890s), it was a three story, white frame building with two wings gently sloping away from the main section. It might even look ominous at night had it not been well lit. It was a relatively new structure, built six or seven years ago. Until recently, I assumed it to be an office building.
In my lifetime, I have never been called psychic. Psychotic, occasionally; but never psychic.
But one night about three years ago, as I was driving past this building , very clearly in my minds eye, I saw flames shooting from the windows of the second floor of this building. It seemed as though it might have emanated from a parlor room or a common room of some sort. I sensed a death to be associated with this yet-to-occur fire. I didn’t experience a feeling of being inside the building, but rather saw this from an outside view. What I saw was VERY real.
I shared this with a few friends at the time, and was adamant that a fire would occur sometime in the future, maybe a week or perhaps a hundred years from now, but it would happen.
Each time I passed that site for the next two or so years, I had a similar, but less intense sense that a fire would eventually occur.
Several weeks ago, I was watching television and the newscasters were reporting on a fire at a nursing facility. I recognized the building as the building that I had the ‘dream’ about. The newscasters stated the fire started on the first floor and was extinguished without serious damage. They also reported that there was an unrelated (to the fire) death of a patient during the fire.
A fire. A death. Was it a premonition? Was it coincidental? Was this the incident that I saw or is it yet to come?
All I know is that the several times that I have passed that building since, I have had no more sense of impending doom for that location.
This was the second ‘paranormal’ experience for me. The first being a recurring dream about a fire to my business. And it also happened.
It's getting scary!
A Blind Spot In My Mind?
Sometimes I think I have a blind spot in my mind.
It wasn't there. The TV remote control that I had laid down on the sofa only a few minutes earlier. It wasn't there.
I searched and searched everything from eye level down, and it wasn't to be seen. I looked at the empty sofa again. It wasn't there. I lifted the cushions from the sofa, to see if it had slipped between them. It wasn't there.
The kitchen, the bathroom and a couple of other rooms I passed through were part of my search. It wasn't to be found.
I'm a very organized person. Everything in it's place, and a place for everything. I have excellent recall (the 2 crossword puzzles, number puzzle and cryptograms that I do in the morning are helpful). I rarely lose anything (well..perhaps my mind once in awhile :))
I went back to the living room, and there it was. Right where I put it. Laying in the middle of the sofa. The remote.
This happens occasionally, and I know there is a blind spot in the eye.
But could there be a blind spot in the mind?
It wasn't there. The TV remote control that I had laid down on the sofa only a few minutes earlier. It wasn't there.
I searched and searched everything from eye level down, and it wasn't to be seen. I looked at the empty sofa again. It wasn't there. I lifted the cushions from the sofa, to see if it had slipped between them. It wasn't there.
The kitchen, the bathroom and a couple of other rooms I passed through were part of my search. It wasn't to be found.
I'm a very organized person. Everything in it's place, and a place for everything. I have excellent recall (the 2 crossword puzzles, number puzzle and cryptograms that I do in the morning are helpful). I rarely lose anything (well..perhaps my mind once in awhile :))
I went back to the living room, and there it was. Right where I put it. Laying in the middle of the sofa. The remote.
This happens occasionally, and I know there is a blind spot in the eye.
But could there be a blind spot in the mind?
On a Lighter Note......Jeopardy
Jeopardy is one of my favorite TV shows.
Some days I do well, and some days, I don't. But I have been fortunate to have gotten a few answers to final 'Jeopardy' based on the catagory alone. One time the catagory was 'Mexican Famous Person' (or something like that), and I blurted out 'Oscar de la Hoya' (the boxer). And darned if that wasn't the question. This has happened to me on three or four occasions.
One evening, sometime during the second round and well BEFORE the final 'Jeopardy' catagory was announced, I told a friend the answer to final 'Jeopardy' would be the 'Sullivan Brothers'.
The catagory was later announced to be 'World War II'. The question ultimately was 'What was the name of the five brothers who died on a battleship in WWII'? And the answer was 'The Sullivan Brothers'.
I don't have premonitions as such.....thoughts just pop into my mind....or what's left of it. (:>) Didja notice the Smiley at the end of that last sentence? That's me, bald head and all.
Some days I do well, and some days, I don't. But I have been fortunate to have gotten a few answers to final 'Jeopardy' based on the catagory alone. One time the catagory was 'Mexican Famous Person' (or something like that), and I blurted out 'Oscar de la Hoya' (the boxer). And darned if that wasn't the question. This has happened to me on three or four occasions.
One evening, sometime during the second round and well BEFORE the final 'Jeopardy' catagory was announced, I told a friend the answer to final 'Jeopardy' would be the 'Sullivan Brothers'.
The catagory was later announced to be 'World War II'. The question ultimately was 'What was the name of the five brothers who died on a battleship in WWII'? And the answer was 'The Sullivan Brothers'.
I don't have premonitions as such.....thoughts just pop into my mind....or what's left of it. (:>) Didja notice the Smiley at the end of that last sentence? That's me, bald head and all.
Costume Shop Hauntings...More Strange Things......
More Strange Things.....
We had heavy duty shelving used to store some of our more cumbersome costume accessories. On numerous occasions, a box would literally 'fly' off on of these shelves and go crashing to the floor. Considering the shelves were about 18" deep holding 15" deep boxes, it would take a push for them to fall off the shelf.
Our primary suspect was 'Ornery', our company cat, but she was usually found to be lazing or catnapping in another part of the building.
And one day, I was busy working on a display in our basement showroom, and from the top of the stairs, I heard Tommy (an associate) calling “Hey Russ”. I finished my project and went upstairs. Tommy was not there, so I went into the sewing room where I located him. “What do you want?” I asked him. He looked at me puzzlingly and said “What do you mean? I said “You called me a few minutes ago from the top of the basement steps”. “No, I was back here talking to Martha for the last half hour or so”. Conspiracy, I thought. They are teaming up to play a joke on me.
A few days later, Tommy came to my office. “What do you want?” he asked. I said I didn’t know what he was talking about. He said that he was in the same area of the basement and heard me call for him.
Even though it might have been a good retaliatory joke, I never left my office.
Were they were voices calling us from the past, playing tricks on us in the present?
I wonder where the ghosts went?
The water was pouring in, and down the sides of the wall and off the six feet tall display cases. I stood there in the entranceway of my business looking up at a gapping hole in the ceiling. The roof apparently had collapsed through four floors, as I was able to purview the sky from where I stood. Everything was gray, except for the blue sky.
It was a recurring dream. Monthly perhaps, for many years.
The roof had had serious leaks over the years, but not in this part of the building. In any event, I attributed these dreams to a fear of a major downpour and leak.
In 1989, as I was nearing my business one morning, I noted smoke in the downtown area where my business was housed. The closer I got, the more certain I was that the smoke was emanating from my store. It was.
The building was gutted from the blazing inferno from the early hours. The fourth floor had collapsed into the third, and the third into the second, etc. The fire department was still hosing the building down when I arrived.
I was able to peer through the front window the next day, and what I saw was the same scene as in the dream. A gaping hole where I could see the blue sky, water still dripping down the now dark and sooty walls and display cases.
Had I interpreted the dream(s) correctly, perhaps I would have been able to offset some of my losses, but that’s another story.
I wonder where the ghosts went? (Still another story to come)
It was a recurring dream. Monthly perhaps, for many years.
The roof had had serious leaks over the years, but not in this part of the building. In any event, I attributed these dreams to a fear of a major downpour and leak.
In 1989, as I was nearing my business one morning, I noted smoke in the downtown area where my business was housed. The closer I got, the more certain I was that the smoke was emanating from my store. It was.
The building was gutted from the blazing inferno from the early hours. The fourth floor had collapsed into the third, and the third into the second, etc. The fire department was still hosing the building down when I arrived.
I was able to peer through the front window the next day, and what I saw was the same scene as in the dream. A gaping hole where I could see the blue sky, water still dripping down the now dark and sooty walls and display cases.
Had I interpreted the dream(s) correctly, perhaps I would have been able to offset some of my losses, but that’s another story.
I wonder where the ghosts went? (Still another story to come)
Costume Shop Hauntings
Quite the skeptic I’ve been over most of my life, and still am to a great degree. My present skepticism is probably more directed at politicians and ummmm…business opportunities.
But more than one bizarre occurrence at my costume shop (I owned a theatrical and masquerade costume business) caused me to open my mind to the possibilities of a more paranormal nature.
I don’t know when they began, or when I noticed them; but I think the first thing I can recall were lights being left on from the evenings before, even though I was certain I had turned them off.
There were only two keys to the store early on, and only one door that could be opened from the outside. Martha had one key, and I had the other. Martha was the most kindly, most honest person that I ever knew; and I knew her from the time I took my first breath (she was my Mother).
Since she left the store before me, I knew that I was the last one out of the door. I always locked, checked and sometimes rechecked the back door. I would find the lights on the following morning. After a few times, it became part of my ritual to check the lights as well before exiting. It continued.
One morning, after I had been in the store for awhile, and before we opened, one of the chandeliers was swinging from side to side for no apparent reason. Fifteen minutes later it was still swinging. No doors being opened or closed, no drafts, no turbulence.
It was another fifteen minutes later that I had to setup a ladder, climb up and manually stop the chandelier from swinging.
Then the footsteps began. Sometimes one set, sometimes two sets. One set was heavier, one lighter, as though they were being made by people of two unequal weights.
Sometimes when I was on the first floor, and sometimes I could hear them on the first floor while I was in the basement.
The footsteps were usually in the morning before anyone else arrived. One Halloween day, however; there were thirteen of us celebrating the end of the Halloween season with a party in the basement (which was also a showroom). It was late afternoon, perhaps 5ish. The store had been cleared of customers and both entrances had been closed and locked.
There were two sets of footsteps above us. Each person heard the footsteps. I dashed upstairs to check to see if the store was clear, and to double check the locks. I looked into each case independently. There was nothing to be found, and the doors were locked.
It was still sunshiny outside.
Halloween Day. Thirteen people. Footsteps.
But more than one bizarre occurrence at my costume shop (I owned a theatrical and masquerade costume business) caused me to open my mind to the possibilities of a more paranormal nature.
I don’t know when they began, or when I noticed them; but I think the first thing I can recall were lights being left on from the evenings before, even though I was certain I had turned them off.
There were only two keys to the store early on, and only one door that could be opened from the outside. Martha had one key, and I had the other. Martha was the most kindly, most honest person that I ever knew; and I knew her from the time I took my first breath (she was my Mother).
Since she left the store before me, I knew that I was the last one out of the door. I always locked, checked and sometimes rechecked the back door. I would find the lights on the following morning. After a few times, it became part of my ritual to check the lights as well before exiting. It continued.
One morning, after I had been in the store for awhile, and before we opened, one of the chandeliers was swinging from side to side for no apparent reason. Fifteen minutes later it was still swinging. No doors being opened or closed, no drafts, no turbulence.
It was another fifteen minutes later that I had to setup a ladder, climb up and manually stop the chandelier from swinging.
Then the footsteps began. Sometimes one set, sometimes two sets. One set was heavier, one lighter, as though they were being made by people of two unequal weights.
Sometimes when I was on the first floor, and sometimes I could hear them on the first floor while I was in the basement.
The footsteps were usually in the morning before anyone else arrived. One Halloween day, however; there were thirteen of us celebrating the end of the Halloween season with a party in the basement (which was also a showroom). It was late afternoon, perhaps 5ish. The store had been cleared of customers and both entrances had been closed and locked.
There were two sets of footsteps above us. Each person heard the footsteps. I dashed upstairs to check to see if the store was clear, and to double check the locks. I looked into each case independently. There was nothing to be found, and the doors were locked.
It was still sunshiny outside.
Halloween Day. Thirteen people. Footsteps.
