Posted 4 years ago
Im4anythin…
(91 items)
Picked this 1873 Martin Maier Leather, Strap & Dowel trunk up last week. It maybe deemed a Saratoga with it having such a high vaulted lid like that. The condition is not what I am used to getting, but it has the interior tray and a makers label, leather covering and it's an early MM example. It measures in at 34" long x 20" deep x 30" tall. The strap holders on this trunk were patented by Crouch & Fitzgerald in 1872 . The label address was not used after 1873. The small remnant of leather with the screw on the back slat is from a leather strap that wrapped all the way around and over the lock, as there was a 2' piece of strap dried up on the bottom that went up the front. I was hoping the slat metal covers were brass but they're not, they are or seem to be, the same metal and color as the lock receiver face. I buffed one to check for brass and it never really changed the color at all. I showed the one shot with the flap down reveling the label only to show where they put the label in those days. It's unusual to see the litho having a signature and dated from 1865. They also used those little brass scalloped details for the top compartment lock tabs, first time I have seen this style. Anyway this trunk is what it is ...needing some TLC ...lol.... but none the less, I hope you find it interesting as its my earliest MM trunk example.
very cool to see an early MM, I have one similar made the very same way with the end caps on all the wood slats and they are metal not brass, mine has the 1873 metal latches, same hardware just on a smaller scale, mine had the blue label with gold trim with same address, I wonder which label came first? to bad it's not in better condition, as mush as I like MM trunks, I think for me anyways with the wood and metal issues I would have passed on this one but it's a cool trunk for sure. Question, how do you know the label with address wasn't used after 1873?
Not sure which label came first but this is a snip-it about the company for the 1873 date. (The trio built a business block on 55 Monroe Avenue, each occupying one-third of the block. The joint company specialized in a shoe store, and Maier managed a trunk and harness shop, until the business was burned out. Maier left the group and moved his business to 102 Woodward Avenue in 1873)
As far as being used after that....seeing how the place was burned out & more than likely the labels as well, and as he moved, I doubt very much this particular prolific business man would advertise his new venture with an old and defunct address. That's all. Personally I find with old paper ....the more elaborate/detailed the early it gets. I would say your blue label is earlier than this paper label just because of its detail and presentation appearance. They were for sure trying to make a statement with it....mind you that's just my personal take on it. The trunk was 20.00 plus gas so not a big deal to have the example. Thanks for the love, much appreciated Brian!
Yeah, I've read that several times, Not sure how to take it, did the building burn or did the partnership burn out?, after talking with Jim C. about this, when MM moved if he had labels left over he probably would have used them rather then making new ones right away, definitely a gray area that we will never know for sure.
The other question I wonder about is that MM died 1893, wife immediately leased the building to a well known tobacco co. was that the end of MM co. ? later, it said someone took ownership of the building but made no remark if they started MM trunks again, so was 1893 the last of MM trunks?
Heres a snip-it from Drill, which he posted regarding my 20th century MM there is more on that pages as well of life after 1900.
During the mid-twenties, production automobile body manufacturers located in the Northeast were losing contracts to firms located in and around Detroit, Michigan. Jacques and a number of once profitable firms soon found they were unable to compete, and began looking for similarly-constructed products that might keep their employees occupied.
At that time the Martin Maier Co. of Detroit, one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of wooden trunks and custom luggage, had yet to enter the lucrative automobile trunk market, which was currently controlled by the Globe Machine & Stamping Co. of Cleveland, Ohio.
In February of 1923 Jean Jacques proposed that the two companies co-operate in the manufacture and sale of metal automobile trunks; with Jacques Mfg. handling the manufacturing and Martin Maier the sales and marketing. The scheme met with the president of Martin Maier’s (Frederick Paquette) approval and Jacques constructed two sample trunks to Paquette's specifications, for which he applied for a US patent on March 10, 1923. On May 25, 1926 he was granted US Patent No. 1586446 which was assigned to Jean Jacques personally.
Interesting, but I believe the barrel top MM with the MM hardware may have died with Martin Maier in 1893, do you have any info on how long the tobacco co. was in operation and as to when Frederick Paquette took the co. back over.
From reading about the tobacco company I believe they were just and only that, tobacco. They made back then 4 million dollars a year with tobacco. I doubt they went into the trunk business but just rented the space ...she must have stopped the one location as they are also at: Maier expanded the business to a four-story block on Twelfth Street, between Port and Abbott streets, where his suitcases would be fully built. - https://nl.qaz.wiki/wiki/Martin_Maier
Some links that I Book marked enjoy.
https://www.findagrave.com/photos/2010/226/57091536_128192618973.jpg
54 years as of this advertisement.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Detroit_in_History_and_Commerce/Fkh5AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Martin+Maier+history&pg=PA151&printsec=frontcover
The Automobile endeavor mentioned
http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/j/jacques/jacques.htm
1921 wardrobe advertisment
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Polk_s_Michigan_State_Gazetteer_and_Busi/7V40AQAAMAAJ?q=martin+maier+trunk+company&gbpv=1#f=false
Hey Drill, in your opinion when do you think the last of the barrel top MM's with MM hardware were made, that's what I'm wondering, when he died and his wife leased the building, when Paquette got the building back or ownership of the business, do you think he picked up where they left off? it doesn't sound like it.
Some cool pictures of early 1900s Detroit hope they post
https://i.redd.it/yqopby7xljp21.jpg
Woodward Ave.Detroit 1910 (Zoom in)
Monroe ave. Detroit 1908. (Zoom in) Earliest pictures I can find.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/7b/dd/557bdda10602c565425079facb9d2c8e.jpg
Brian , I think they could have ended with his death. A.M Duck's death probably weakened the franchise as well. It may have depended on Mr. Rose , if he decided to stay on after Martin's death to help guide the business and help the wife. Not sure?They may have made them for a few years more.Hard to say. There were 150 jobbers in 1891, did everyone just disappear?
I know the Scotten tobacco co. was one of the largest in America at the time, suppling all over the U.S., Hawaii, and parts of Europe, when they leased the buildings from his wife I wonder just how much of the business was left at the time.
Thanks Drill for the info, very interesting, as usual! Much appreciated!!
Thanks for the love there guys!! Always appreciated!! officialfuel,
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