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Antique Toy Trunk

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walksoftly's loves3283 of 1253713 Portugal Sardines or Carapau  8 inches long, and vintage fish stringer!Thomas Edison (?) Lamp
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    Posted 9 years ago

    jscott0363
    (886 items)

    I bought this little antique "Toy" trunk several years back from an antique mall for $10. Though it's missing it's inner tray, I still thought it was quite a bargain. 90% of the paper covering is intact, as well as the dust seal around the edge of the lid.

    The inside paper lining is still intact and the little girl who originally owned it has written her name inside the lid. I thought that was a nice added feature.

    A lot of folks refer to these as "Doll" trunks or "Salesman Sample" trunks. But, I've always been told that these were simply "Toy" trunks.

    Just imagine, when this trunk was made, a full sized trunk was about $4.00 and one of these toy trunks would have cost about $2.00. So, you'd have to be very well off financially to afford a $2.00 toy trunk, like this one, for your child, back then!!
    Thanks for looking!!
    Scott

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    Comments

    1. SEAN68 SEAN68, 9 years ago
      very beautiful and Happy New Year!!
    2. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thank you Sean and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2015 to you as well!
    3. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks for the love T-man and Happy New Year to you and your family!!
    4. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks for the love aghcollect!!
    5. Jewels Jewels, 9 years ago
      It is wonderful! I love it!
    6. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks Julie! I have another with red plaid paper covering on it. I'll post it sometime later.
    7. Jewels Jewels, 9 years ago
      Would love to see it. I live antique children's things :)
    8. Jewels Jewels, 9 years ago
      Love, not live :)
    9. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks Cindy!! I sort of forgot I had it around the house. I've had it for a few years now:)
    10. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks Cindy!! It's pretty small though. It's only about 14" long and 8" wide. Not sure an American Girl doll would fit in it.
    11. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks walksoftly for the love!! Happy New Year to you and your family!!
    12. Kydur Kydur, 9 years ago
      Scott, did you ever do a search for "Emily Podbilski" (the girl's name on your trunk)? It turns out there aren't many (one!) of them if she was born/living in the USA. Here are some interesting links that makes your little bit of history more personal if it's the same person:

      Census: http://www.myrelatives.com/genealogy-directory/emily-podbilski

      Emily: http://www.cadillacnews.com/article_tools/print.php?story_id=849517&year=2009&section=news&issue=20090509

      Emily's husband: http://www.tributes.com/show/H.-Everett-Potrude-89087830

      Emily's father Charles: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X73H-BZ9
    13. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks for the loves
      Sean
      Cindy
      PatSea
      walksoftly
      Julie
      T-Man
      and
      aghcollect
    14. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Kydur, that is just absolutely AMAZING!! (To say the least!!). Thank you so very much for the information! I can't begin to thank you enough friend!! I have never done a search on her. But, thank you again for the incredible information!
      A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2015 to you Kydur!!
    15. Kydur Kydur, 9 years ago
      No problem! The search was fun for me too - I like to know as much about the stuff I collect as I can, especially who owned it before me and the physical journey it may have taken across the continent(s)... it kind of breathes life into an inanimate object and of course provides a bit of provenance.

      I'm curious to know when (exactly) you acquired the trunk? Emily died on May 6, 2009 so if it was around the same time then it might have been when her belongings were parted out and disposed of. If that's the case then it's sad to think that nobody in the family wanted this little trunk.

      Of course something else to consider is that members of the family (especially children and grandchildren) may be really interested and thrilled to get that trunk back!

      Happy New Year to you as well!
    16. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Kydur, I actually picked this up in early 2010 or 2011. It was an antique mall (or antique show, if you will) full of vendors from about 4 or 5 states. I couldn't tell you where the vendor, that I got this from, hailed from. But, it's quite possible they were from Michigan. There were vendors there from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Michigan among others. Our town has an antique show every year at the end of March or first of April. That's where this came from.
      Perhaps, the family sold it in an estate sale to the antique vendor. I guess that would have been quite possible.
      Thanks again for all of your research work. It's just so amazing to read thru all of the information about this little girl.
    17. Kydur Kydur, 9 years ago
      If Emily kept the trunk all her life, which is quite possible given the time lines and the presumption it came from her estate, then it's obvious the trunk meant a lot to her - or it could've just been stashed away and forgotten in the attic or basement! I suppose we get to manufacture our own stories for a lot of things we find...

      At 92 years young that little girl lived a long life too!
    18. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Kydur, That little girl lived a long life indeed!! You can tell the trunk had been well cared for over the years. So, perhaps it did, in fact, mean a lot to her!!
    19. racer4four racer4four, 9 years ago
      Fantastic trunk and great research Kydur!
    20. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks racer4four! And another big thanks to Kydur!!
    21. Virginia.vintage Virginia.vintage, 9 years ago
      I love it, thinking in the owners, happy childs with many colorfull toys inside, a real treasure! :)
      Many thanks for share jscott!!
    22. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thank you Virginia and for the love as well!!
    23. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks everyone for the loves!! I do appreciate it very much!
    24. myoldkyhome myoldkyhome, 9 years ago
      Very nice! I have several of these and thought that they were called doll trunks. I got that because that's how they are referred to in the Antique Trunks book by Linda Edestein and Paul Pat Morse. I don't know. Either way this was a big bargain for $10. They usually sell for much more than that. Lucky again!
    25. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks myoldkyhome for the love and nice comment!! You're absolutely right about the terminology here. But, I've heard them called both "Toy" and "Doll" and no one has ever really been able give me the straight up answer on it. I did get lucky on this one:)
    26. paintinmyhairtiff paintinmyhairtiff, 9 years ago
      I love how sweet the young handwriting is. There is a magic in childhood. what a lovely item.
    27. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thank you for the wonderful comment paintinmyhairtiff!!
    28. Alan2310 Alan2310, 9 years ago
      Hi
      Scott
      What a great trunk you got there, and what a great add to it, Kydur did.
      What an amazing story you add to your trunk, provonance add quite a value to an antique piece.
      Lucky you, i LOVE IT
      Regards
      Alan
    29. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Alan, Thank you so much for the kind comment and the love!! Yes, thanks to Kydur, this little trunk now means a tremendous amount more to my collection!!
      Thanks again!!
      Scott
    30. pops52 pops52, 9 years ago
      What a great trunk Scott! Thanks for sharing!
    31. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks very much pops!!
    32. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Eye, you're absolutely right. Her name was written upside down in the lid of the trunk.
    33. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      I am guessing that's how it happened as well. Thanks for the comment!!
    34. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      No, not really all that valuable. I see them everyday priced anywhere from $25 to $150. If the family wanted it back, I'd be more than happy to get it back into the rightful owners hands. I know I'd want someone to do the same for me someday.
    35. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      That's GREAT eye! How did you go about locating the owners?
    36. Kydur Kydur, 9 years ago
      I appreciate all the kudos you guys, but you're making it sound like a marathon of research was involved when all I did was get lucky with a quick search for the girl's name and copy-and-pasted the links. Perhaps the only thing I can take credit for is the curiosity to try a search in the first place. A Google search for "Emily Podbilski" only returns 7 results so it was fairly quick and easy.

      Now, if her name had been Emily Smith...
    37. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Kydur, either way, you did good my friend!!
    38. Kydur Kydur, 9 years ago
      I should also point out that my "research" may not even point to the real Emily since the actual name on the lid is "Emily Podbilskiy" (note the "y" at the end. Google returns no results for that spelling and instead shows the results for the name without the "y" (which is what I went with). It's possible Emily was still learning how to spell her name and so it could just as easily be "Emilie Podbielski" -- the surname being a more common spelling, and the first name variation is a game-changer. Or it could be that the proper spelling is actually "Podbilskiy" (as written) and we are no further ahead other than creating a nice emotional (and fictional) backstory!
    39. Kydur Kydur, 9 years ago
      Scott, I recommend that if you really want to know if you have the right person you should attempt to contact some of the other family members via the info in the obituary links. They would likely be able to confirm or deny previous ownership; but you may also want to be prepared to return the trunk (which it sounds like you're willing to do) if the correspondence turns emotional!
    40. Kydur Kydur, 9 years ago
      Eye, possibly, but the "y" at the end is also the same as the "y" in Emily; although the pencil line trailing upwards is odd, but not unusual for a young child learning to master their pencil grip and motor control.
    41. jscott0363 jscott0363, 9 years ago
      Thanks for the loves
      antique.empath
      and
      pops!!
    42. jscott0363 jscott0363, 2 years ago
      Jenni,
      Thanks very much for the love and for stopping by!!

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