Posted 11 years ago
Snow1315
(6 items)
THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP ANYONE CAN BE .I bought this item for my wife to restore and now I'm afraid to allow her to touch it . I call it a small trunk but I'm sure it's not a trunk . It is 2 feet in length - 11 inches in width and height . I have no clue of the age and this is the part that scares me . I did not notice when I bought it that the inside of the trunk is lined with newspaper that has either been glued or somehow sealed to it and after carefully looking at the newspaper I have noticed the paper is dated March 4th and 5th of 1844 . Yes 1844 (not a typo ) . As you can now see my concern . The paper is original and includes articles on James Madison . Any help anybody can be would be greatly appreciated .. Thanks again and feel free to email me with any questions .
It was common at that time to line the inside of their trunks with newspaper. Chances are good your trunk is the date of the paper. I have two on my site that are slightly earlier than yours. I would think that the covering is a later addition. If it is not original to the trunk then there lies a very nice wood trunk under it waiting to be released. I would take the rivets off, remove the covering, refinish the wood and put the rivets back on one by one. There may be original covering under the cloth so take a peek and see what is there -- originally it was either hide covered or leather or canvas -- if you are lucky it might be in good enough shape not to have to refinish it. Looks like a small trunk or maybe a document box. Great find!
Technical note -- not "rivets" but "tacks"...
Thank you Trunkman.. Your information was very helpful and I will follow your instructions to a T ...