Posted 13 years ago
chinablue
(42 items)
This is an icebox that belonged to my grandmother. I have been looking for some information as to maker so that I can replace two latch/catches on it. I cannot find any that latch like this and don't want to replace all 3 latches. I'd prefer to keep it original. Anybody out there ever seen a latch like this or know the maker of the icebox just from the latch picture? It doesn't pull out, but pushes down to allow the door to open. If you do, I'd certainly appreciate it if you would let me know! And yes, it's really my linen closet. Our house is an old farmhouse that was built without closets, a woman's nightmare!
As for the picture of the top, there are some interesting items that probably should be listed on their own sometime. To keep you from straining your eyes like I do when I see pictures like this I thought I'd tell you what's on it. The camera on the left belonged to my grandfather. It's a Conley, probably a Senior Folding Camera, from around the turn of the century. In front of it are a mini cream and sugar from Pisgah Forest Pottery. The cans are an old Baking Powder can, Rawleigh's poultry medication and Robinson's barley patent infant milk replacement powder. The crockery jug was used soley for buttermilk and was kept in the old springhouse at my great-grandparents. The bowl and scoop also came from their home. The crock was my grandmothers. There are no markings of any kind on any of the 3 crockery items and all of them are in great shape. The gold filled glasses in the cases belonged to my grandmother as well as the eye cup. The sun glasses and oil lamp are finds we've made just poking around when we go out junk hunting.
officialfuel, thanks for the love!
Thanks ROBin, I'll write them and see if they have this type. So far I have never seen any like them on the internet anywhere.. and I've been looking for about 10 years. I'll let you know if they do!
Had you considered using the one you have as a pattern to have new ones cast?
walksoftly, no.. that never occurred to me. It's probably way out of my price range to have something custom made and I'd have no idea where to have something like that done. But it would certainly solve my problem!
Rob, I have looked through 21 pages of images and have yet to find one like these. If you should find the time, could you post one of the links where you found this one? I'd sure be grateful! Guess I need my bifocals readjusted. :-)
you didnt show picts. of the inside! yours is beautifully finished! The one i have came out of an old appt. building, it hs a "service" door on the back-side so the ice man didnt come into the appt. , he just inserted the block of ice thew that service door. The back-side was "built" against the main hallway wall, each appt. had a little sevice door exposed into that hallway. These also appear to be smaller than yours. Mine is RUFF, ill check the latching mech. next week & see if there the same style, if so , you can have mine, im not going to restore it, its to far gone. Mikie
I didn't show pictures of the inside because it's stuffed full of sheets and towels. Can't have everyone seeing that now can I?? *LOL* This one has what looks to be a bead board external back on it. I promise, when I get a chance.. hopefully in the next week, I'll jerk everything out of it and take a pic or two. I'll also put up some pictures fo the latch catcher I need and it's measurements. I appreciate the offer on your latching mechanism and I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it's the same! That's mighty kind of you. :-)
Your best bet is to take a good 1 off & have somebody(usually a local) who does wax casting make the original broken part. Don't let them rip u off as it's not that expensive. I have a friend who would make any part of that latch for about $40 but I live in St. Maarten. Those people r as bad as car mechanics if u don't know how easy it is. I would suggest letting them use the original part so the alloy will be the same as the others. Age it in a sealed container of commercial Ammonia(doesn't take long) & then polish the parts that used/shinny to match the others. I do this a lot & if you need advice, - just ask. 1st part of my mail got cut-off. Contact me if u r serious about restoring that part & I will walk u thru.
P.S. That is a very early style latch. I envy u owning such a beautiful condition ice box. Probably 1800's.
What a lovely piece! My Aunt and Uncle have a built-in ice box in their house that I wish I owned. It's HUGE. Floor to ceiling and probably 10 feet wide. I would have loved to seen that house in it's heyday.
I posted pics of my White Treadle if you'd like to see, thanks again chinablue!
Thanks for the information, blunderbuss2. Sorry it took me so long to say thanks, but my husband was injured 2 weeks ago and things have been pretty crazy around here for a while. I appreciate your comments and offer of help! I'll be sure and let you know if I end up with one I need to do some work on. I honestly don't know how old it is. My grandparents set up housekeeping just after 1900 and it may well have come from her family. When things settle down, I'll try to do a little more with this. :-)
BuffaloNickels, thanks for stopping by to have a look and for your comments. I would LOVE to see the one your aunt and uncle have! Maybe sometime when you visit them, you could sneak us a picture of it? We won't tell them you did it! ;-) I never heard of one that large. mikielikesigns2 spoke of one in an earlier post that was built so that it could be iced from the back. Thanks for your comments and welcome to cw!
Thanks to everyone for the love. Sorry I got a bit behind.
Don't get in a hurry. If you live in a smaller community, there is usually somebody who plays around with wax/investment casting as a hobby & will be happy to do it at a reasonable rate as they enjoy their hobby. If you have the broken parts from the old latches, it is best to let them use the original metal to melt-down as then it will match the alloy & your fake aging will have the same colouring. Bon chance to hubby & hope things "settle down" soon.
I'm curious about Mikies' ice box that loads from the back since they were usually against a wall. Maybe free-standing in a store? All the 1's I have seen have a hinged top for putting the ice in the "pan", with a drain down to a "drip-pan" underneath.
Finally got around to taking some pics of my ice box. The configuration of both appears the same. I'll post pics tonite.
Eureka! You don't pass out the easy 1's but & tenacious. Finally found your latch. Check at: antiquehardware@robinsonsantiques.com . Item#IBL20
http://robinsonsantiques.com/ice-box/ice-box-latch.htm
Item#IBL20
Good detective work blunderbuss2, I tried your link but it was their email address.
I Googled: antique ice box latches & it was near the bottom of pg 3 ( believe).
Thanks for all the detective work blunderbuss2! And walksoftly for fixing the link. The handle looks the same :-), but the latch is different :-\! They don't show a 'face on' picture of it. If you look at mine, it has an arm that comes from the plate and holds the 'latch' striker area that is sort of offset, making it curve toward the handle. The one they have has a cut out in a wider arm that doesn't allow the latch to touch the backplate/base. I've written them to make sure that it opens by pushing the handle down, rather than pulling it as so many of them do. I also asked if they can send me a better picture of the latch and give me a price. I'll let you know what I find out! Thanks again for the work! :-)