Hello!
A couple of weeks ago, my Mom, CM and I were helping a family from our old church who were hosting a yard sale. As we were hauling boxes down from their attic, I noticed an old trunk sitting in the middle of the furniture that was for sale on the front lawn. Because I'm my fathers daughter, antiques and trunks are two of my favorite things. And when it looks like I've found those two things put together in one glorious conglomeration and fabulousness, I get pretty stoked. Mrs G---- wouldn't hear of me buying it though, and insisted on giving it to me.
When CM and I were carrying it to the car, we noticed this on the lid:
Since, unfortunately, you can't read it I'll just tell you what it says:
Estate of James S. Topham
Washington D.C.
November 15 1913
Specifications No. 1198
Washington D.C.
the top of the trunk
the front of the trunk
the handles here are broken.... not sure how to fix that, but "where there's a will there's a way"... most of the time :)
A different angle of the front :)
the tray here is removable
I couldn't really make out what this said...
Anyway... I'm super excited about this. We have several antique trunks upstairs that we use for storage, but I've never really had one that was mine. I'm wanting to make this looks extra-nice, and when it does, you guys should see pictures up here.
Hope you all are enjoying the remains of this lovely summer!
God Bless!
Emma
Ahem... the trunks upstairs are not *all* for just storage! My hope chest is not just storage... it's full of things that I want to bless my husband through in making our one-day-house into a home. That's a big deal... storage indeed!!!
ReplyDelete-Yo Sis
But you're *storing* those things in your hope chest, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteI am trying not to be SUPER jealous! I, too, have a passion for antiques and boxes (or trunks). Congratulations on such a good find! I can't wait to see what you do with it!
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I'm still looking for a hope chest...so if you see any old trunks that you don't want, let me know! :)
Emma
ReplyDeleteYou have found quite a treasure indeed, at least from my own personal perspective. James S. Topham was my Great Grandfather and was quite a business man in his day. He started his leather goods business making saddles in 1855, and opened his first store in Washington DC with only $700.00. Pennsylvania avenue was just a dirt road. He made saddles, trunks, bridles bags, and other leather goods of all types, and made a trunk for each sitting president from Abraham Lincoln to William H Taft.
He was a great man, and i'm happy to see someone so thrilled with a piece of history! Hope your restoration project turned out well, and congrats!
Andrew Topham
US Army (RET)