Woman Thrifting a $15 Picture Frame Was Shocked to Discover What Was Hiding Behind the Photo
Samantha Ramsdell thought she had found exactly what she wanted at an antique shop in Maine: a vintage picture frame for just $15. The photo inside wa
Samantha Ramsdell thought she had found exactly what she wanted at an antique shop in Arundel, Maine: a vintage picture frame for just $15. The photo inside wasn't really her style, so she planned to take it out and replace it with one of her own. But when she got home and opened the frame, she noticed something she certainly wasn't expecting—a second picture had been tucked behind the first.
“I honestly just loved the frame,” Ramsdell told Newsweek. “The photo that was in it was a little freaky, but I really just wanted to buy it for the nice antique frame.”
Once home, Ramsdell removed the photo and put one of her existing prints into the frame. Then, when she took off the backing, she discovered another picture underneath.
(Courtesy of Samantha Ramsdell)
And this wasn't just another forgotten photograph.
“As soon as I got home, I removed the photo and put up one of my existing prints,” she told Newsweek. “When I took off the backing, I noticed there was another picture behind it, and it turned out to be the George Washington lithograph.”
Ramsdell is an avid antique collector, so she had people she could turn to for advice. She consulted fellow collectors and experts among her friends and also did her own research online.
What she found made her $15 purchase even more interesting: The lithograph could potentially be worth considerably more than what she had paid for the frame.
“It's an original lithograph of George Washington from 1864 during the Civil War,” she told Newsweek. “From what I've seen, it could be worth more than $500.”
The discovery also left behind a mystery.
How did a George Washington lithograph from the Civil War era end up hidden behind another picture inside an antique frame?
Ramsdell can only speculate.
“Perhaps it was intentionally concealed,” she told Newsweek. “I was thinking maybe the original owner had passed away and someone donated it without knowing what was behind it.”
For now, Ramsdell plans to keep the unexpected find.
“Right now I'm keeping it. I'm sure it will go up in value over time as long as I keep it in good condition, unless someone wants to make me an offer,” she told Newsweek.
She has also reached out to a local historical society to learn more about the lithograph's origins. At the same time, she hopes her experience encourages other people to give secondhand shopping a try.
After all, there's still something wonderfully intriguing about finding a piece of the past where you least expect it.
Ramsdell put it simply:
“You never know what might be hiding behind an old photo or tucked away in the pocket of a vintage jacket,” she told Newsweek.
In her case, that hidden surprise happened to be a Civil War-era image of George Washington, waiting quietly behind a picture she never intended to keep.
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