TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A man recently stumbled across a box of items that had been shoved under a bed in a guest room of his Grand Traverse County home.

The box was put there in the 1970s, but the items inside were much older.

George Sarris came across the box last week at his house in Acme Township, and it contained newspapers, county atlases and postcards from the 1800s and early 1900s.

Sarris was dumbfounded, telling the Traverse City Record-Eagle, "I don't understand why I have them, to tell the truth."

He bought the collection in the '70s from a Leelanau County sawmill owner whose name he no longer recalls.

One of the oldest items is an 1855 copy of the Detroit Daily Free Press.

Sarris says he'd like to sell the collection and has contacted an antique appraiser.

___

Information from: Traverse City Record-Eagle, http://www.record-eagle.com