The Paul W. Smith Show watching the news. Maybe it was yesterday. I don't know the days all run together. And and they're out there at the Michigan Central station plugging away and it never occurred to me that they'd be digging up. Artifacts really historic pieces. Some were poured in the concrete building the building. It's been pretty amazing. And and Ted Ryan happens to be archives and Heritage brand manager for Ford Motor Company. Um, and this has been very exciting. Hasn't it been Ted? It has been. It's been great. We've been documenting the things that workers from previous generations have left in the building, and, uh, there's three different categories of things that we found, Uh, like the one more special and we'll talk about in a second and then The artifacts that had been liberated will use that term loosely and have been returned to us by by fans who had taken him a novel Love seeing the station. Wait a minute. I love the way you guys at Ford do these sorts. The artifacts that had been How should we say liberated from the building that are now coming back to us? Oh, you're so nice. You always we didn't. We didn't. We didn't own the building when they left when we have a no questions asked policy if of anything had disappeared, And I just got an email just two minutes before I went on with you with somebody who saw the story yesterday and sent me a picture of an elevator grill. One of the grills over the elevators that he had wanted to know if we wanted it back. And the answer is yes, we do. Oh, isn't that great? Well, that's fabulous. First of all, who even knew. Ford Motor Company had an archives and Heritage brand manager. I mean, think about that. It's the best job in the world I get I take care. My job is to take care of the 16,000 cubic feet of documents and records and 1.5 million photographs and Selection of vehicles and a cool artifact collection. And we we use it to tell stories about Ford Motor Company So the the new Bronco has a goat driving mode, G O A. T. And that came directly out of the archives because early planning documents all had G O A. T at the top of them goes over any terrain. The only military term is that wild. How great is that now? When you heard of the company was going to be buying the Michigan Central Station and rehabbing it. You must have been giddy with joy thinking about all the things that might be found there. I've never even occurred to me. I was. It was great and very quickly After we announced that you may remember that somebody called us an anonymously left the big clock face that have been on the outside of the building in an abandoned parking lot for us to go pick up and We've got a bunch of stories out of that. It's just been wonderful to see all the materials and so let's been down in the building is a crazy collection. Women choose Children choose. Of pre 1934 baseball, uh, a bunch of beer bottles, and there was a very special one was recently found and had a note tucked inside. It reminds me of the old Jim Croce song time in a bottle because this really is Time in a bottle because of that old note in an old pre Prohibition era stroll. Beer bottle. Tell us about that note. Well, the two workers Lucas and Leo, who found it. I've got to commend them because if I found a message in the bottle, the first thing I'm doing is taking that message out and reading it. Uh and they didn't. But there's signs all over telling the workers don't pocket the past and I've got to just say the guys and men and women that had worked down there every time they found something. They're so excited to turn it over first of their management, and then they know it comes to the archives. So they found this bottle And if you will play, you imagination game and the cornice that goes between the ceiling and the wall, that decorative corner board that goes all the way around. In this particular case, the thing was about a foot tall, so there's a big gap behind it and to workers. 1913. They actually wrote a note. It was Dan Hogan and George Smith for the note, saying Dan Hogan and George Smith connected this ceiling, Um, 1913, and then they put at the very bottom of Chicago and did a lot of research. And I actually found that Daniel J. Hogan, who was a plaster who lived on Lafayette Street in Chicago. From like, 19. Oh, three until 1920. So we know that workers came from all over to build the station And these two particular gentlemen left us a note for us to find 100, plus years later. Wow. That's really something. And when you consider what these in this case bottles had to survive, mostly, most of them I think intact. Some of them were actually Coated with concrete in and embedded in some concrete that was that was poured. They were. There's a liquor bottle that whoever was working on the job site that day, and, uh, the workers all and the management all kind of laughed. It was like things that's been a little bit more laxity. He polished off the last of his liquor, and he put the bottle in the wall and he became concrete ng over it, so It's a little bit different, uh, talk about high destruction techniques. Talk about hiding the evidence they did while we were at the station yesterday, though, too we found a cache of over 4000 train tickets that had been tucked up in the ceiling. One of the one of the guys pulled down a ceiling because we're having to reduce so much of it and all these used expired train tickets came fluttering down so The ticket station master at some point in the twenties, right behind the ticket office. He got tired of keeping the old one, so he just choked him to event up into the ceiling in the room next door. Ted Ryan Archives and Heritage brand manager for Ford Motor Company. Will you open a small little museum inside the Michigan Central station so that when people come there to either do business or whatever it is that they will eventually be doing in this very active building. Well, you have, like a little museum with the things that were found along the way, right there on location. We actually already have one at the community center That's in the factory, which is just a couple blocks down from the Michigan Central. There have been discussions on potential small museum, but nothing is is. Nothing supporting concrete. Yeah, to, uh, sorry I had to go there, but I like it. Nothing is firm yet to to to know if that's going to happen, But we're also doing things like finding ways to preserve and protect selections of the graffiti. Because, you know, yes, we're documenting the early construction. But the graffiti became such a piece of the building as it was used for film and video that we wanted to find a way to document that era the building as well. Wow. That's fascinating. The best job in the world. I'm not kidding you. You know what You better keep that between us, Ted. They may not want to pay. If you have so much joy in going to work, and you'd probably do it without getting paid. Uh, that dog has crossed my mind as I find something really cool and send it off. And I'm so excited and giddy about it. None of my maybe tone it down a little bit, but no, I've got the best job in the world. And telling the board story is great and there and Ford's lucky to have you there to tell the story. Good for you. But thank you Much. Thank you. Ted Ryan Archives in Heritage brand manager for Ford Motor Company. There's that message. It was a mystery no longer a mystery at Michigan Central Station. Pre Prohibition era beer bottle stroll Stroh's. We called it growing up. Bottle found during the restoration with a note inside and, uh God Bless 10. He tracked down one of the one of the families of that was involved in that thing. It's amazing as we continue on the Paul W. Smith show WJR folks. This is an excellent time to sell your home. Go with an agent who will help you navigate through multiple offers. So do you.