Posted 13 years ago
kjunlady1338
(1 item)
Crystalized tin Dome Top trunk from the late 1890's. I purchased the trunk from a guy selling out of his car for 25.00 along with some other stuff. I had the trunk apprasied and it's insured value is 2000.00 and retail is 1500.00. It is considered good to excellent condition. The original purchase price was 2.50 when it was new. It was owned by someone wealthy because it is a dome top and they purchased these because they would stack them on top so they would not be crushed and would be removed first from the ship or train. I do not know the maker of the trunk but is believed to be made buy 1 of 2 American companies.
Hi, you have a beautiful example of the crystalized tin covered trunks of the 1890's. I've collected and worked on trunks for about 40 years and know how hard it is to find them so complete and in very good condition. This one is the "Cross Slat" round top style which was first patented in 1880 by Charles Taylor of Chicago. but the trunk could have been made by many different trunk companies because Taylor sold the parts patent rights to a parts making company which sold the parts to trunk makers all across the U.S. So, I have seen many trunk companies that made trunks just like this with the same hardware. Not sure who said it would be only 1 or 2 companies but that's not true and I have lots of historical documentation on that. Any, I love the interior of the trunk too, it's great. These trunks were made in many price ranges and for all types of customers. The story has been going around about stacking these trunks on top, but large trunks like this were not put on top but were turned on their side instead and other trunks were stacked on them. The high round top trunks like this were used mostly by ladies, but not always, and were the popular style in the late 1800's, and sometimes called Saratoga trunks by the makers and by the public. The round top trunks may have started out with an idea about them being put on top, but when the trunks got larger the trunk handlers quickly learned that they could just turn them on their end or side and stack other smaller trunks on it. I even have some old pictures showing them doing that with trunks. Anyway, just wanted to give you the information I could about it. It's a beautiful trunk. Marvin Miller, trunk collector and restorer
Thanks for the info Marvin. I would like to sell it but have not found a buyer yet.
I enjoyed reading TrunkerMarvin's post about this trunk, as I too had heard the story that the dome top trunks were made for ladies and were always stacked on top of the trunks in shipment. Interesting to find out that even then, trunk handlers were finding ways to make it more practical. Beautiful trunk - good luck with selling!