The "Sarah's Grandfather Ate Popsicles" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Enjoying myself at the gallery where I work.  Was given the job of cutting a frame and placing an old canvas oil painting in it for a customer named Sarah.  My work order said the painting was 35"x36", but I still measured it just to make sure it was measured correctly the first time.  Headed out to the garage to cut the length of framing material that had been delivered.  Wasn't long before I had driven metal wedges into the wooden frame and was laying the painting into the opening.  The painting was very brittle and when I held it to the light I could see light through quite a few holes in the fabric.  

The popsicle stick on the right was found along the edge of the painting.

I'm almost sure the painting was done of a piece of material other than true canvas.  Modern canvas is usually made of cotton or linen, although in the past it was made from hemp.  The painting was very rigid and had a few minor creases in it that made me think it wasn't canvas.  The stretcher bars it was mounted on were just pieces of pine wood rather than manufactured stretcher bars.  As I was about ready to fasten it into the frame I had cut, I noticed a raised area along the one edge.  Not sure why I hadn't noticed it before since it stood out quite a bit.  As I examined it more I realized it was a piece of wood that had been wedged along the edge of the painting.  Used a needle nose pliers and after some time pulled .... a popsicle stick from the painting.  Wow!  Someone must had been eating a popsicle while they were either stretching the material or while painting it and the stick somehow got included along the edge of the painting.  

Work order shows what the description of the painting.

Could it have been on purpose?  Did the artist want to know if it would ever be discovered?  Well, I discovered it!  Wouldn't it be funny if it were an orange creamsicle, my favorite, that the artist had been eating.  Pulled up the worksheet and saw that the description of the artwork said "grandfather's painting."  His granddaughter, Sarah, was having his painting framed after all these years.  I finished the job and placed the popsicle stick in a small plastic sleeve and placed it on the back of the job so Sarah would have a piece of history that may at one time be used to see if any DNA from the stick would lead to the ID of the user.  First time in my 18 years of working at the gallery that I ever had something as unusual happen like that.  At the very least, it gave me a chance to share it with you.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.