Posted 11 years ago
mamashay
(1 item)
I purchased these great finds today. I am very curious about the trunk. I can't seem to find any information about it. The gentlemen originally acquired it many years ago from the railroad company where he worked.
The manufacture plate reads: Thos. Dufficy & Co.
Manufacturers of Trunks, Sample Cases and Traveling Bags.
Louisville, KY
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Hi mamashay and welcome to CollectorsWeekly. :-)
Michael
It is great that you have a maker's name on your trunk -- usually most are not labeled. The picture is a little distant so it is a bit hard to get at the details. Judging by hardware and style and type of trunk I would think that it was made around the 1920's or so. It is covered with a material called "vulcanized fiber" which is a paper based product that stands up to a lot of wear and tear. These type of trunks were principally sold as a standard storage unit for its day, meant to be tucked away somewhere or out for purely utilitarian purposes -- so being used by a railway company would make sense. I do not know about the company that made them (there were many at the time) but there would be information about the manufacturer in the city of origin's library or city hall. A fun funky old trunk with lots of character and a great history -- thanks for the post and welcome to C.W.!
Hi Mamashay, I know a little bit about this trunk maker. Thomas Dufficy was born in Roscommon, Ireland in 1841 and came to the US with his family as a young child. The family settled briefly in New Orleans, where Thomas' father died of yellow fever. This mother, Alicia, and his 5 siblings then took a ship to Panama, walked from the Atlantic to the Pacific side and took another ship to California. They settled there during the Gold Rush years and did will. Thomas is the brother of my great, great grandfather. A relative gave me a letter Thomas wrote to his mother, when he was in Baja, California (Mexico) as a young man and was unsure if they'd ever see eachother again. I got to wondering about him and learned he did return to the US and became a trunk maker. I hope this helps you enjoy your trunk more. :)
PS: I believe your trunk was made no later than 1906, because the Thomas Dufficy trunk plant burned down in March 1906.