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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Abbie Meehan

Edinburgh electrician finds time warp McEwan's beer can from 1970s under floorboards

An Edinburgh electrician was working in the capital when he made quite the historical discovery.

Graeme Young, 46, who runs Equinox Electrical Ltd, was working on a couple of homes in the neighbourhood of The Grange, when he stumbled across some stunning finds.

Graeme said: "I was just working away in a home in Edinburgh when I pulled up a floorboard, and there it was.

"A really old-looking McEwan's beer can, complete with pull-top lid. I often come across relics under floors, some interesting, some less so!

"It was nice to find a can in an uncrushed condition. It will replace one of two cans that my wife binned a while back!"

The McEwans Export can looks to have originated from the 1970s, and has kept it's bright colours and label remarkably well, despite the rust setting in from a 50-year game of hide-and-seek with its original owners.

This beer can looks to originate from the 1970'S. (Graeme Young)
The McEwan's Lager can is in good condition, albeit a little rusty! (Graeme Young)

And the can was not the only thing that Graeme came across when working in the property.

He added: "I found a whole bunch of these cards behind an old fireplace that the builders removed. These pieces of history look like they go a lot further back than the lager can, and I'm pleased to find all these relics during my working day."

This Christian placard is in good condition and originates between 1850-1870. (Graeme Young)

The first relic he found was this Christian Motto card, which dates back to 1850, as the stationer's who sold these cards were operating at the address noted at the bottom of the card.

The quote is from Joshua 24:15 in the Bible and is a popular cross-stitch design on Etsy to this day.

This business card dates back to 1863 and was for a New York female psychic and eye doctor. (Graeme Young)

The next placard is for a Mrs Price who was a female psychic, prior to 1871. As well as psychic readings, she cured "scrofulous" eye diseases with Mr Price's Family Pills.

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, she also lived with a fellow psychic, Mrs Sarah Ensell.

This Greyfriars list from 1859 and is in a bit of a dishevelled condition. (Graeme Young)

The next placard is a list of names and duties for office bearers for the Greyfriars Church.

Coincidentally, this card was produced the same year as John Gray was buried, and little Greyfriars Bobby, the famous pup, allegedly started sitting on his grave.

So a possible office-bearing duty could have been to feed Greyfriars Bobby!

And finally, this last card was a New Years Hymn from the Morningside United Presbyterian Church and it was created the same year the church was founded, 1887.

This New Years Hymn is colourful and bright, unusual from this period of history. (Graeme Young)

According to the Morningside United Church website: "Morningside Congregational Church was established in November 1887 with only 25 members.

"The present church building dates from 1929.

"The church was started in the growing suburb of Morningside by three young men: Joseph Burns, Frank Sonley Cownie, and Andrew Melrose.

"They leafleted the area to drum up interest and hired the Athenaeum, a lecture hall and library by the Morningside Athenaeum Club, for their meetings."

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