Posted 3 years ago
SoWa
(1 item)
Hello,
I just inherited this old family trunk, used by my 2x great grandfather Alexandre, when he crossed over to Canada.
I would love to know where it comes from and how old it is.
Alexandre was born in Russia in 1853 from a french father and polish mother. They later went on to live in England and France. He then married my 2x great grandmother who was half german / italian and later in their life, they moved to Canada in 1903. I can't even start to figure out from which country this trunk is from because it could be from her side as well.
We have no information about this trunk and nothing is written in or on it. But there is a picture/drawing inside, which I included in the pictures. It's in metal outside and wood inside, with wooden slats outside. There are still small spots of colors on it which look golden.
Any infos would be more than welcome. Thank you!!
Your trunk is American made from around mid 1890's, I believe the front latches were patented in 1893 by O. D. Hunter, American trunk makers sent hundreds of thousands if not millions of trunks like this one to Europe and abroad for immigrants to buy and most brought them back to America. The tin on your trunk is what was called mottled finish it was a spotted finish of various colors, the picture inside is a lithograph print, they were random and had no particular meaning. If your dates are correct your GG parents may have bought it in Canada.
Greendog, thank you for your reply.
And I was hoping of finding more of my family history through this trunk.
I also thought the dome top was odd to travel on a ship, since it's hard to stack.
So basically, there is nothing special about it besides that's it's roughly 125 years old and still is in our family.
Any idea of what it's worth today? Not that I plan on selling it, no way, but just out of curiosity...
Thank you!!
well unfortunately this is a very common trunk made by hundreds of trunk makers at the time, this is a 50 dollar trunk give or take a bit, as for stacking they just turned them on end or it's back.
Oh well, at least I know a little more about it. Thanks a lot for the infos!
Your welcome