While researching in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle morgue, I came across this curious image of a young Brooklyn resident digging in rubble.
Brooklyn Treasure Hunter Jay Erlichman hard at work hunting treasure.
On January 16, 1950, a small article ran in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, with this image titled "Youthful Treasure Hunter". By the time it went to print, nine-year old Jay Erlichman had been digging for treasure with his broken shovel for "about four years". Up until this date, his efforts had dug up a total of $1.27 and "an enormous collection of rusty bottle caps, tin cans, broken glass and old shoes".
While his parents supported his explorations, his thirteen year-old brother thought he was "slightly crazy". However, Jay's perseverance paid off when he dug up a cigar box containing $200 in savings bonds, and about $100 of costume jewelry on one of his digs. He was off to buy a new shovel with his treasure, and hoped to be a professional treasure hunter when he grew up.
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
He'd be roughly 70 by now. I
Jay Erlichman has been a
Post a Comment
While BPL encourages an open forum, posts and comments are moderated by library staff. BPL reserves the right, within its sole discretion, not to post and to remove submissions or comments that are unlawful or violate this policy. While comments will not be edited by BPL personnel, a comment may be deleted if it violates our comment policy.
eNews Signup
Get the latest updates from BPL and be the first to know about new programs, author talks, exciting events and opportunities to support your local library.