SWSMpapers- by Ottilie Von Henning
A woman discovered a treasure trove of old newspapers hidden under the carpet of her newly-bought home including one newspaper dating as far back as 1937.
Carina Duarte, 22, moved into her new two-bedroom home in Richmond, London, with her partner last month.
The home needs significant renovations so Carina got to work as soon as they moved in.
When separating the carpet from the floorboards in the second bedroom, Carina found piles of old newspapers.
Most of the papers uncovered are from 30 November 1989 but one Daily Mirror newspaper, which dates back to 17 June 1937.
The 1937 newspaper makes mention of the Spanish Civil War, while the 1989 editions give an insight into housing and grocery prices of the time, including a chicken for the sum of 89p.
Carina, a tech saleswoman based in Richmond, London, said: “It was really interesting to discover all the history.
“We’re likely going to frame the 1937 paper and put it up in our home to celebrate a little bit of its history.”
Carina and her partner bought the Edwardian home, built circa 1910, in January this year.
The couple fell in love with the property instantly after they first viewed it in April 2024, but they initially lost out on it before it came back on the market in July 2024.
Carina said: “We loved the location and knew we wanted a renovation property to make it our own.
“This one had a lot of potential with loft space and its own private garden.
“When it came back on the market after we first missed it, we decided to put an offer in.”
The house is a doer-upper and requires central heating installation, rewiring, new windows, and a new kitchen and bathroom.
Carina said: “It was a very old fashioned property in need of full modernisation.
“Renovations have been going well so far, mostly lots of stripping including wallpaper, kitchen, bathroom, old carpets.
“we’re now moving onto the bigger jobs and getting gas and electrical work done.”
As part of some if the smaller initial jobs, the couple started on the second bedroom and removed the old carpet.
When separating the carpet from the floorboards in the second bedroom, Carina found piles of old newspapers including a copy of The Daily Mirror from 17 June 1937.
The 88-year-old edition makes mention of the Spanish Civil War, which had started the year before.
It also contains lifestyle pieces targeted at housewives at the time.
Carina said: “We weren’t expecting to find all this but it’s been a nice surprise.
“My partner really liked all the stuff in the 1937 paper about the Spanish Civil War especially where you can see the article about British guns being trained on Spanish ships.
“And some of the articles in the 1937 Mirror shone a light on how far feminism has come especially looking at the title about how important when your husband comes home is!”
Most of papers Carina found were from 30 November 1989, which Carina assumes is when the previous owner carpeted the bedroom.
Carina said: “I found the difference in shopping prices pretty wild in the papers from 1989 – 89p for a full chicken!
