Posted 8 years ago
shalee
(1 item)
Hi all,
I'm looking into the family history, and got a few pictures recently of my great great grandmother's trunk. I'm no expert so I have no idea what type of trunk it is or where it would have originally been made. It's promised to go to another family member so I don't have a lot of detailed pictures, but the latches read Jul 9 72. We searched the entire thing for any more lettering but couldn't find any. Inside the lid is a postcard picture. There is also a removable shelf. My great great grandmother traveled to the US from Germany in 1887. She was 11, and left from Bremen and arrived in Baltimore on the Donau. After she and her family arrived they moved to Iowa. Her mother died in Germany just before they immigrated, so I don't know if it belonged to her mother, or if she purchased it later on in the US. Any info would be great, thanks!
Your trunk was made after 1880. The 1872 patent latches were used for 20 years after that date. It is a metal covered, barrel top trunk with a cross slat design. (slats on top running front to back) many makers called these trunks that had an embossed metal design "fancy" metal, or Tin, covered trunks. It is not postcard, it is a decoration (chromolithograph) put in most all trunks, at random as far as subject matter, by the trunk makers. It is an American made trunk, but without a lebel or tag, there is no way to know who made it.
Hope this helps,
Jim
hmsantiquetrunks.com