Recovering the Old Wallpaper
The Discovery of the 1961 Nugget
Front Page of a 1961 Holiday Themed Nugget
December 20, 2016
Most of you probably don’t know this, but the Helena High School Nugget Newspaper is the oldest school newspaper in Montana. It stretches all the way back to the late 1800’s, and continues on through to today. Over the decades, the format and content within it has changed, but it always keeps hold of the sole reason the Nugget Newspaper has been printed month after month and year after year: to bring students the most riveting news involving our school. Everyone knows this has been a very interesting year what with new movies in theaters, the fire in the math hall and the resulting smoke and water damage to other classrooms, the flooding in the gym, and all the new clubs and activities students can become involved with. And just this week, another extraordinary occurrence has occurred.
As you read this December edition of the Nugget Newspaper, know that exactly 55 years ago, students not unlike you were reading the fine print in their own December edition of the paper. One of those students left their copy in their locker, or perhaps on top of their locker, and never saw it again. Maybe they looked for it, or maybe they never thought about it again, but what they didn’t know was that it was almost perfectly preserved inside the wall, behind their locker, only to be found again in 2016. They didn’t know that they had inadvertently left a time capsule behind, and thus made Nugget Newspaper history.
No one really knows how the 1961 December paper got stuck in the wall, and it’s very likely that no one ever will. It’s now just one of the many mysteries of Helena High School. What we do know, is that they had a Trampoline Club! How awesome is that?
The paper included many article regarding the occurrences within our school all those years ago, as well as several beauty and styling salon advertisements, creative submissions, and cigarette ads! Apparently they weren’t as concerned about the many kinds of cancer you can obtain by smoking.
Out of curiosity, we looked at the names of the writers on the inside cover of the paper, and to our amazement, we recognized not one, but two of the names!
“That’s my grandma!” Danielle Nelson of Nugget Newspaper exclaimed. “My grandma wrote this!”
She also recognized the last name of Wendie Kottas, an aunt of one of her closest friends.
We explored further, and found all kinds of great articles and tidbits, including quotes from even earlier in Nugget history. It was like finding a time capsule within a time capsule!
“Of all the words/ Of tongue or pen/ The saddest are these/ I’ve flunked again!” one quote read, taken from the year 1901. It seems that if one thing has been consistent from one century to another, it’s one the biggest fears of a common student- failing a class.
As amazing as this find already is, it gets even better. The wallet of an old Helena High School teacher was found behind a fire extinguisher, also dating back to the mid 1900’s. Inside, there was a check book, a teacher ID card, and a driver’s license.
While the fire in the math hall and the resulting damages to said math hall, the English hall, and the theater were devastating, we probably would not have discovered these little treasures within the walls of our school had it not occurred. Which leaves us to wonder, what else might be hiding just out of sight?
