Community Chat

[wismiss]

My ex mother-in-law gave us a trunk, which I now have. Unfortunately, she painted it all black----leather and all.  It looks somewhat like this, but maybe not as fancy:A metal plate on it says "The A. E. Meek Trunk and Bag Co., Manufacturer, Denver, Colo."  

The inside paper lining is beginning to deteriorate and I thought about removing it, as I would like to store photo albums in the trunk.  But, then I thought about just leaving it and putting those silica gel packs in there to absorb any moisture so the pictures aren't ruined.  Would this be OK to do or should I find another way to store pictures?  I have about six huge albums and another five or six smaller albums.

Any advice, suggestions, comments?

[Q4u]

While I haven't restored an old trunk, I've sold many of them and have several.... I love them.  Unless the interior has mildew or mold and smells. I would leave the interior intact, and even then I've been able to totally eradicate the smell with gel absorbers (two at a time) leaving them inside the closed trunk for several weeks and doing it again, if need be.

Perhaps even reattaching the paper as the interiors of the trunks are hardly ever still part of the trunk and collectors look for the graphics on the inside!  Very desirable. Even if you never resell it, even in rather poor condition, it's still preferable to have the interior lining as part of the trunk. 

If you're able to get the wood and leathers back to near original condition is also another plus to the overall value.

Putting silica packs in the trunks will keep the interior dry.  I can't see any problems storing photos in the trunk if the albums have their photo pages separated with papers so the pictures don't stick to each other, which will happen when you store them pretty much anywhere.

Here's a very helpful link about restoring trunks....  Good luck!

 http://www.antiquetrunksandchests.com/how-to-restore-an-antique-trunk/

[shoekitty]

I know many people who have succesfully clear coated the inside of the trunk.  They do several coats...almost like decopage.  That way you reserve the integrity of the trunk, and make it clean and waterproof on the inside.  I also hear they have lining tissue for trunks ,

[missy1]

No, but I do like vintage trunks.

[wismiss]

Thank you for you replies.  I'm not sure I'll ever get our trunk to look like the one in the picture, but I think anything to remove that black paint would be an improvement.  Thanks again.

[DoneTryin]

I can't offer any advice & wish you success with whatever you wind up doing.

Since I live in Denver, I looked that company up & found that the original retail building is a part of the Historic Downtown Denver District, & in need of repair.  So if you know of anyone with lots of $$ who'd like to finance restoration of the building, just point them in this direction!

[wismiss]

Done Tryin':  Thanks for the info about this building.  You know, if I was super wealthy, the restoation of buildings like this would be one of my beneficiairies in the form of a grant.  I would want to know how the building would be used to improve the area, but I would also be very generous.  I would like to have enough money to have a foundation that could make a difference in the preservation of our history.

[AuntG]

Did you ever restore it?  Ours was far more beat up than yours and we took it to man who completely restored it and put in a cedar liner.  It could be put in any number of rooms in our house.