Atlanta woman's wallet lost 65 years ago returns to family who now have 'a piece of her back'

The year was 1958. Atlanta housewife Floy Culbreth had gone out for some entertainment at the Plaza Theatre.

Before the night was through, Culbreth misplaced her wallet inside the theater. It would stay there for 65 years.

In October, employees at the historic theater found the wallet in a closet during renovations, Plaza owner Christopher Escobar told USA TODAY on Friday.

“In the far, far corner under the pipe, they ended up coming across this wallet," Escobar said. "We pretty quickly realized what we had on our hands."

The wallet is a small time capsule of 1950s Atlanta and Culbreth's life. Among its treasures were a gas receipt showing Culbreth paid $3.26 for 10 gallons, a special photo of her father and raffle tickets to win a 1959 Chevrolet.

Coming across the wallet was pretty cool for the theater employees, but they had no idea just how special the find would end up being.

Tracking down the owner of a wallet left behind 65 years ago

Escobar said the wallet also had an identification card showing that its owner was Floy Culbreth, and it included an address and contact information, on top of credit cards for department stores, a doctor's appointment reminder and a calendar.

Escobar enlisted his wife Nicole to help to find Culbreth. When she looked Culbreth up, she found an obituary. Culbreth died in 2005 and her husband Roy died four years later

But the Escobars didn’t give up. They used the obituary to find the names of Culbreth's relatives. They soon came across the website for the Culbreth Cup Charity Golf Tournament, a fundraising event created by the late couple’s grandchildren to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Escobar reached out to the family on social media in October, but because they were tied up planning the fundraiser, they couldn't schedule a meeting before Nov. 19. It would soon become a date to remember.

Floy Culbreth's daughter gets back a piece of Mom

Culbreth's daughter, Thea Chamberlain, and other family members went to the Plaza on Nov. 19 to pick up her mother’s wallet. 

“Everything about her, just about, was in there,” she told USA TODAY on Friday. “Her family pictures. Her library card. Her Rich’s and Davison's (department store) credit cards. It just brought back a ton of memories and still is. The memories are still flooding in for all of us about her.”

Even Chamberlain's 5-year-old grandson was cautious as he looked through the wallet, she said, as if he knew how precious the items were to their family.

Inside the wallet were photos of Culbreth’s father, husband, son and Chamberlain, who said she had never seen the photo of her grandfather before.

“It was overwhelming,” she said. “I felt like we had gotten a piece of her back.”

Floy Culbreth was 'a spicy June Cleaver'

Chamberlain says her mother was "so much fun” and “a little bit like a spicy June Cleaver."

She was a housewife, a great cook and heavily involved in community events at her church. But she had a feisty side: She'd kick her leg up in the back when kissing her husband, she was in a monthly women's club centering around jokes and martinis, and every Halloween, she would dress up as a fortuneteller and make up fun stories about her children's friends.

"Elvis ... you're going to meet him one day," she'd say. "Mother would make up these stories reading their palms."

Chamberlain's dad, who was "hilarious," was her perfect match, she said.

“They were quite a team,” she said. “They were fun and giving and loving. Everybody wanted to be in our house because of our parents. You were welcome at any time. You get to the door and they're welcoming you in whether they knew you were coming or not.”

The Culbreths' charitable side

Although Chamberlain says she had a typical middle-class upbringing, her parents were quite the philanthropists. 

The family spent their early years living at an apartment where they met a friend who had polio as a child. The woman's husband took care of her but if not for him, she likely would have been institutionalized.

The story inspired the Culbreths to rally other couples in the area to start an organization to support people with disabilities.

“She was just that kind of person,” Chamberlain said about her mother. “She taught us, ‘You be nice to everybody. You don't judge anybody.’”

Chamberlain said her parents had tons of friends they knew for a long time.

“I think that speaks a lot of them, that people wanted to be friends with them for a lifetime,” she said.

Wallet was found during critical time for theater owner, handled with care

The Plaza Theatre, where the wallet was found, is the oldest and only locally-owned movie theater in Atlanta, said Escobar, who also serves as executive director of the Atlanta Film Society, which produces the Atlanta Film Festival.

The renovations that made finding the wallet possible are part of an effort to turn things around at the theater, he said. Phase one included converting the theater’s balcony into two small auditoriums. 

They wrapped that up last year and moved into phase two, restoring and redoing the bathrooms, the concession stand, the bar and more. It’s a lot to take on at one time but they’re going for it, he said.

“Everything we're doing is a combination of historic restoration and preservation,” he said. “Preserving and playing up the things that are there, trying to bring back things that used to be there. But then also how can we make this more energy-efficient? How can we make it more accessible?”

Person who found wallet likely couldn’t contact owner due to relocation

Chamberlain remembers going to the Plaza Theatre as a child and calls it a staple in the city. It was close to where the family lived.

At the time, the family had just moved to their first house in Midtown, near Piedmont Park. She thinks whoever found her mother's wallet at the theater all those years ago most likely couldn’t contact her due to the family relocating to their new home.

“Back in the day, your phone number stayed where you were living," she said.

Escobar said he feels honored to be able to return the wallet to its rightful owner, or at least her grateful family.

Chamberlain was moved.

“Chris (Escobar) didn't realize … what sharing this wallet has meant,” she said. “I think a simple thing like finding this wallet and reaching out is just such a kind gesture. Reach out to people because you never know what you're going to do for their family.”