In my nearly 33 years in this business I've found many a startling item
in records containers.  One experience was similar to Ginny's.  The
personal items stored upon one individual's presumably sudden departure
some 20 years previously included a desiccated ham sandwich as well as a
radio (that still worked).

In the basement of the Coryell County (Texas) Courthouse I opened a
ballot stub box that included the remains of a rattlesnake.

But the most disturbing experience was when I was about to send several
boxes of old court reporter notes to the recycling center.  As they
pre-dated my employment I decided that I had best check the contents and
found that there were more exhibits than notes.  And the items included
pills of various shapes, sizes, and colors; unidentified herbal
substances; bits and pieces of clothing; and adding machine; a piece of
stained carpet; numerous knives; about a dozen guns; a rape kit; and
other items similarly unsuitable for recycling.

Paul R. Scott, CA, CRM
Records Management Officer
Harris County, TX

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