Family Heirloom Trunk |
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Posted 7 years ago
JamieKo
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This trunk belonged to my Husband's Great Grandparents. We just picked it up out of their attic today. We don't know anything about it and we are very excited to begin our journey of finding out more. If anyone knows anything about it or knows where we can start our research I would greatly appreciate it.
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Trunkman, is the lock popped off ?
Welcome to CW.
We can see, this has being only possessed by your family, the original stated of preservation is just something we don't see often, the patina and overall look on this trunk is marvellous, others to be just superficial cleaning, beautiful trunk.
Some trunk collector here will comment this post, just wait for it.
Regards
Alan
Thank you Alan2310! We are so excited to have it! It's so dusty but we want to read up on how to clean it properly so we don't damage it. My husband's aunt told us that she believes it was used by her grandmother when she came to the U.S. from Poland. Such a treasure to have something with so much family history :)
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pages/US986841-0.png
An American cross slat trunk,America exported many trunks to Europe during "the great migration "that immigrants used to make the journey.
some advertising of the time period
https://books.google.com/books?id=AjqYCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA565&lpg=PA565&dq=Iron+clamp+trunk+patents&source=bl&ots=9Q5p5zrZ7o&sig=aa32ypJhsSCBUJHT7XRp2RHYn9w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLnIe_z_nOAhWIVBQKHcgzCCsQ6AEIPzAJ#v=onepage&q=Iron%20clamp%20trunk%20patents&f=false
You are more than welcome.
I can easy understand as family heirlooms are priceless, I have all the history of my family on original notary papers starting from early 17 century and 2 photo album from the xix and early xx, so I know you are very excited like I am.
I know a member here will come up with all the patent dates of your trunk hardware, you will be thrill to know the dating of your trunk and maybe the excact manufacturer.
Regards
Alan
https://books.google.com/books?id=_gdrCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA269&lpg=PA269&dq=slat+clamp+patents&source=bl&ots=x31esmufsZ&sig=H1-TW7zbvP2rov0_Wz-EkXizGRM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixnsr3iNjUAhUBTD4KHX48DsQQ6AEISzAP#v=onepage&q=slat%20clamp%20patents&f=false
Some more trunk advertising
I was wondering that it must be very common for the locks to be pryed open.
Common yes as many keys were lost ,not sure if this one was, it does appear in good condition. Those hasps tended to have spring steel in their design so that they hold out away from the catch portion of the lock. This was to prevent you from inadvertently locking the trunk. You may even be able to locate a key for this model.It is hard to say if it would work. Sometimes damage can occur if it has been forced to open. Other on this site may be able to help you locate a key.
Oh I see, maybe the cover is just missing and the actual lock mechanism is intact.
Thank you all for all of the info! Drill is right, it isn't broken or missing anything. We are just afraid to latch it because we don't have a key. From what I found online that type of lock had its own patent and that is just how it looks. What is interesting is I am having a hard time finding chests that only have the 4 cross slats like this one. I appreciate all the great info so far, it has been super helpful! :)
Nice barrel top trunk, very common, from around very late 1890's to early 1900's, made by dozens of trunk makers at the time, without a label impossible to say by who. The lock is very cool, however some what common, I have seen a lot of these, and have a couple in my collection, they did not have any cover over them. The cross slat design was patented by C.A. Taylor in 1880, this style was most commonly found in three, four and five slats on top, I have seen seven, which is very uncommon. As Drill said it is an American made trunk, the smooth tin between the slats was probably what they called crystallized tin, gold was the most common color and it didn't hold up very well. Over all a very nice trunk, greendog
I have the same model trunk. But mine has embossed metal. It has a Corbin double bit barrel key and there should be a number and letter stamped above the key hole. There is a vender online that has a collection of Corbin double bit keys but is missing a few. I have a 5T key lock and have been looking for a key for it for over two years. Finally removed the lock to send it to a locksmith but I found that most do not have blanks. Found some blanks online and waiting now for the deliver and pray they work. Keep in touch.