Posted 10 years ago
Solona
(1 item)
I just bought this trunk off Craigslist and plan on trying to restore it, but would like to know more about it before I do so. It is a completely tin covered trunk aside from the wooden slacks. It is badly worn and rusted, but I can tell that the center portion of tin once had a yellow crystallized finish on it. The lock has a patent date of October 2 1883, the wheels that I can read look to have a patent date of June 1883, and there is a piece of metal hardware on the interior that has a patent date of October 77 (1877 I am assuming). There is no company name anywhere on the trunk, but the metal embellishments at the ends of the slacks on the lid all have S B T Co on them, and there is a metal embellishment on the top of the center slack that has an S on it, as you can see in the pictures I've included. I am guessing these are the initials of whatever company produced the trunk, but I have not been able to find anything online. It is a very large trunk: 36x21x29.5 inches. If anyone recognizes the initials on it, or has any information on it really, that would be greatly appreciated!
This is a beautiful trunk -- one of our contributors will hopefully id the initials on the hardware for you -- it is new to me. Thanks for the post!
Thank you! Today I started removing the original paper and canvas from the inside of the trunk because; unfortunately, the previous owner spray painted over it with black paint. I discovered two hand written capital letter "B's" underneath. One was on the inside of the lid and the other on the inside of the front. I don't know if this is significant at all, but I figured I'd mention it!
If it is a hand written letter B in pencil then it is more than likely a parts reference as they were working on a few trunks at the same time. It is rare to have the hardware marked like yours and this mark is unfamiliar -- and the form is a bit unique too so hopefully we can find out who made this trunk or at least who patented the hardware on it -- does the hardware or lock have any dates on it?
The lock has a patent date of October 2 1883, the wheels are pretty rusted, but I believe that the patent dates on them read June 7 1881 and June 26 1883 (each wheel appears to have both patent dates printed on them), and there is a piece of hardware on the inside of the trunk with a patent date of October 23 77.
Very Nice Trunk!! I love the character it has right now.....but that is just me. I like things to show their age. Great Find !!!!!
Thank you! I have to agree with you on that. When I say I want to restore it, I really just want to fix it up a little by replacing any missing parts that I am able to, and protecting the metal from further rust damage. I love the character that it has and definitely don't want to do anything to take away from that!
Looks very much like one just posted 5/2017 made by F.W. Gromm, out of Denver.
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/225915-trunk-f-w-gromm?in=all#comment-1067416