Old chest, what era?

Found this at a architectural sale. Had missing latch so I fabbed one up.

Would like to use it in my truck to hold tools and spare parts. It'll hold starter, generator, and carb easily along with necessary tools.

32" x 16" x 8" approx.

Any idea of age?

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150622

 

It looks about the same size as a Model A trunk. If it is that would put it pre WWII.

 

Cool old tool box. Just guessing but it looks like ‘30s. Nice work on that latch too, now you’ve got to make it look as old as the rest of the box.

 

Can't help you on age, but my Grandpa had one sorta like that he kept his clothes in, no telling how old it was. I think they called them "steamer trunks", people used them when they were going on ocean voyages on steam power ships.

 

Looks like a WWI Army footlocker. My gramps had one very similar.

 

My military historian son says it’s a pre WW2, possibly 20’s or 30’s footlocker.


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Thanks for all the replies. I never figured it'd be older than my 41. Lol.

 

Great look chest, I'd like to find one like it. BigO

 

Thanks, my goal is to get the bed of the truck finished this winter and use it for tools and such.

 

I've got Gramps footlocker above my garage, I should dig it out. He was "in" WW 1.0, though sorta not. They needed a whole lot of people in a hurry, when they finally decided to go "over there". He was issued a uniform, somebody found out he knew how to type, and that got him a good gig as some Colonel's secretary and spent his time in France, though not facing the Hun or munching on bully beef or hardtack. Have a bunch of nice letters from French hotties. Grandma didn't like those too much. He was never technically in the Army, have more letters where he was writing congress critters trying to gain Veterans benefits for himself and the others in the 1920s. Probably got him on a list, I dunno.

I remember it had some Springfield .03 rounds on a stripper clip, which I emptied the powder of and lit off about 1972, and a rusted broken down muzzle-loading flintlock pistol missing the lock. That met a similar sad fate.

 

That looks more like a tool box of some sort from the 20-30's since there are some clips in the lid to hold something long like a wrench. Either way it is cool and and will look great in your truck bed.

Mike

 

We had one like it at the house when I was a kid, in the attic. Came from my grandparent's house. Would agree on it being 1920 vintage.

 

I have learned to be very careful when looking at anything built out of wood because sometimes it really is old and other times it is something built and made to simply look old!

The picture certainly makes it look old but knowing more about the type of wood used to build it and the joinery used makes it hard just from a picture to determine the age.

I have an very good friend who makes 18th century furniture and sells it has a reproduction of an original piece of furniture and he knows that some of the people he sells his work to sell it has an original which drives him crazy but that is how good his work is that many people are fooled.

I have always been a carpenter who built and remolded homes for over 35 years and one day a customer asked me if I could repair and antique table that had a deep scratch in it.

I asked her if I could use her iron and some towels and she said sure.
I soaked the towels in warm water and then I squeezed most of the water out and laid it on her antique table and started go over the towel with the iron.

I did this a number of times until the bores in the wood filed with the moisture and the scratch could not longer be seen.

I also told her that the table was not an antique which made her have this angry look on her face and she told me they purchased from an antique store somewhere in PA. for a few thousand dollars.

She then looked at me and said why would you say this is not an antique table?

I showed her it was made using a product called MDF which is short for Medium Density Board which is a very popular sub-straight for people who build furniture and other things.

It is rather easy to be fooled today because it looks just like an antique piece of furniture.

Jimbo

 

And I guarantee she's more pissed off at you then the asshats who sold it to them.