Local Roofing Company Uncovers Unique Piece of Minnesota History

Storm Group Roofing, L.L.C., a Twin Cities roofing contractor, uncovers hundreds of local prohibition-era newspapers in a West Minneapolis home.

Minnesota, MN, USA (April 29, 2015) — A team of roofing contractors from Storm Group Roofing discovered hundreds of 85-year-old newspapers in near-perfect condition while working at a home in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood of Minneapolis. The historic papers, dated between 1928-1930, had been installed as insulation in the two-story home during the same time period.

The papers’ headlines, stories, and advertisements provide a fascinating insight to life in the Twin Cities during prohibition. Some of the trending topics of the day included the rise of radio programming, “autos” that could top 70 M.P.H., and the nationwide ban on alcohol. The various headlines range from sobering (“5-Year-Old Killed By Auto On Snelling Ave.”) while others are more mystifying (“41 Barbers Convicted of Soiled Towel Use”).

The Storm Group Roofing team of roofing contractors recovered and saved over 250 pounds of newspapers printed by The Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, and Minneapolis Star over eight decades ago. The newspapers had been stitched together and assembled into insulation by Multi-Cell Sales Corporation, a local manufacturing company previously located at 3420 Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis.

“I’ve worked on thousands of homes and businesses and have never seen newspapers used as insulation in this way before,” said Dmitry Lipinskiy, owner of Storm Group Roofing. “The newspapers were used to insulate the entire house and nearly all of them remained perfectly preserved!”

Lipinskiy and his team of Minneapolis roofers uncovered the newspapers while performing various roofing services on the West Minneapolis house built in 1921. The homeowner chose Storm Group Roofing because of the company’s unique solution for attic insulation, a system much more efficient than old newspapers. The roofers removed all of the older newspaper insulation and put in state-of-the-art home insulation in its place while also replacing the home’s damaged roof.

Lipinskiy’s profound appreciation for world history forbade him from disposing of these papers as he typically would with other scrap construction materials. He is currently storing the historic newspapers at the Storm Group Roofing warehouse in Brooklyn Park and hopes to donate them to a museum or historical society.

“Finding these newspapers not only opened my eyes to past home construction practices… but also to a truly special time in the history of Minneapolis,” Lipinskiy said. “I want to share that experience with as many people as possible.”

About Storm Group Roofing
Visit the Storm Group Roofing YouTube channel to view a brief video featuring the historic newspapers found. Storm Group Roofing provides superior roofing services for the entire Twin Cities metro area. The Minneapolis roofing contractor also offers premium gutter installation, vinyl siding installation, and ice dam removal services for residential and commercial properties.

Media Contact:
Dmitry Lipinskiy
Storm Group Roofing, L.L.C.
7308 Aspen Lane, N. Ste. 118,
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota 55428
(612) 559-2449
info@stormgrouproofing.com
http://www.stormgrouproofing.com