Old house go boom, then gives present

The apartment in which the Professor and I live is in an old house, built around 1920. And, with such age often comes various odd issues. Needless to say, we've become well versed in quirky 90-year-old plumbing, especially as our old apartment in Boston was from the same era.

Over the weekend, our tub decided to stop draining altogether. This did not come as a shock, as, when we first moved in, there were no hair traps of any kind covering the drain. The long clumps of hair that we pulled out that first day were enough to churn most stomachs.

Anyway, our tub wasn't draining, only dredging up muck from the pipes below. See, here's a picture:

Now, the Professor is definitely a do-it-yourself type. I, on the other hand, make an valiant attempt, then remember I don't own the place and call a landlord. So, the Prof headed out to Home Depot and came home with a thing called a Zip-it. Basically a 2' long piece of plastic with thorns, it, needless to say, was pretty worthless. Our problem was much further down than a Zip-it could handle.

Our landlord came by to check things out. He puttered for a few minutes. Plunged. Looked at the pipes in the basement. Plunged again. 

No luck.

It was something we'd need a plumber to fix.

Long story short, the plumber came yesterday and did his thing. Pipes were cleared. Tub drained. But, the kicker of the whole thing was what we found in the ceiling of the basement while getting at pipes. Here, check it out:

Why a toothbrush was up there, nestled between the plaster ceiling and the pipes, I have no idea. But, that's the magic of old houses. Issues arise and, while fixing them, discoveries are made. Who knows what is hidden in the walls around me as I type this? Memories, treasures, secrets? It's anyone's guess.