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Antique trunks, also called traveling chests, were originally used as luggage for extended trips by stagecoach, train, or steamship. Today, given the weight limitations on airplanes and the new, lightweight wheeled luggage available, most people use these old trunks as furniture—chests for storing things like blankets, linens, papers, and other memorabilia.

Antique chests, unlike trunks, were always designed for storage and were never intended fo...

Most trunks fall into two categories: domed and flat-top. Domed trunks have high arched lids that range from camel-back to hump-back to barrel-top varieties. Flat-top trunks, or steamer trunks, were designed to makes these pieces of luggage easier to store on steamboats or trains. What people think of as steamer trunks today were once called “packers”—the even smaller “cabin trunks” or “true steamer trunks” were the most practical pieces for ship or train travel.

Other types of trunks include monitor-tops, barrel-staves, and bevel-tops. Jenny Lind trunks get their name from a Swedish singer who toured America with P.T. Barnum, carrying just such a trunk. Only made between 1855 and 1865, these trunks have a keyhole shape when looked at from the side.

Saratoga was the name used by many manufacturers for their top-of-the-line trunks. These trunks are known for their serious hardware and complex compartments and trays inside. Large wardrobe trunks are meant to be stood on one end when opened. Inside, one side has drawers while the other is a void so the traveler has a place to hang clothes. Some of these are equipped with interior straps to hold shoes, briefcases, curtains, vanity mirrors, and makeup cases.

Wall trunks have special hinges so that, when open, it can stand flat against the wall. Dresser trunks, also called pyramid trunks, are a particularly coveted form of wall trunk. Perhaps the most desired kind of trunks of all, though, are the ones covered in thin oak slats, placed side-by-side. These were extremely prestigious trunks, made in dome-top, flat-top, and bevel-top styles.

Well-known malletiers (trunk makers) include Louis Vuitton, Goyard, Moynat, Haskell Brothers, M. M. Secor, Leatheroid, Clinton, Hartmann, Oshkosh, Molloy, Truesdale, and Taylor. La Malle Bernard and Seward Trunk Company are still making trunks while Shwayder Trunk Company of Denver, Colorado, became the luggage firm Samsonite.

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Recent News: Trunks

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The Dark Walker
Ghost Theory (blog), May 24th

I ran into the sitting room and grabbed the .455 Webley revolver and a handful of bullets from the old steamer trunk. I handed it to him and watched him load the gun. He then picked up a hatchet and slid it in his pants belt...Read more

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The Smart Set, May 23rd

This is true if you are traveling with a carpetbag or a steamer trunk. But no luggage more bluntly — or more honestly — expresses the fears about packing than the contemporary backpack. We can see our souls in the contents of our baggage...Read more

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Often the casts of our shows bring a few outfit changes, a steamer trunk full of shoes, and a stylist to help them get dressed, and the Mob Wives were no different at the taping of this latest reunion. When I asked all the ladies ahead of time what...Read more

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A woman opens an old steamer trunk and discovers tantalizing clues that a long-dead relative may actually have been a serial killer, stalking the streets of New York in the closing years of the nineteenth century. A beer enthusiast is presented by his...Read more

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(tie) Bailey Rechkemmer, poker table; Jackson Dennis, steamer trunk; 3. Nic Bjork, fishing cabinet Architectural Drafting, Division 4: 1. Nick Ross; 2. Nathaniel Porter; 3. Ty Leinen CAD Architectural Drafting, Division 4: 1. Devin Gaudette; 2...Read more

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By Hedy Weiss Theater Critic/hweiss@suntimes.com May 9, 2012 4:58PM The stage of the Chopin Theatre is bare, aside from a large steamer trunk and a few stacks of old suitcases. But have no fear. Jamaican-bred, Los Angeles-based actress Debra Ehrhardt...Read more

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Over the last two years he has been through four surgeries, 25 doses of radiation, countless doctors' appointments, physical therapy and enough pills to fill a steamer trunk. I had to quit working because Jeff is now my full-time job...Read more

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