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Flat Top Trunks
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The classic flat top trunks with canvas or metal background and hardwood staves were made from about the 1870s to around 1920. These trunks were the workhorses of that period. Many manufacturers around the world put them out in vast numbers. Their basic shape and design is a rectangular box covered in varying thickness of canvas (some is so thick it could be called burlap) or sheet metal and then hardwood staves, metal trim and hardware added. Some flat tops of this type were covered in sheet metal between the staves. This metal was usually plain flat tin but sometimes had embossed patterns to make them look like they were covered in canvas, why? since real fabric surely would have been cheaper. Most had trays inside but the trays were usually not made nearly as sturdily as the trunks themselves, therefore many found today will be missing the tray. Flat trunks have been around much longer than this period, the very earliest chests of Egyptian design were flat and many stagecoach trunks were also flat. Many other trunk designs were popular during the flat top's days. There are many legends around that supposedly explain why the rage of trunk design went from flat top stagecoach design to the round tops and humpbacks and then back to the standard flat tops with hardwood staves. Some say these rounded trunks came about because people were fed up with baggage handlers stacking their trunks and damaging them. So some bright soul decided objects with a rounded top could not be stacked. True, if you specify the object must always remain upright. Porters didn't take long to realize that if a rounded-top trunk was laid over on its back (or front, or end) it was now flat again and could be stacked! The interiors of flat tops were lined with paper until the late 1800s when some manufacturers started lining them with cloth, usually of a solid color. As the 19th Century drew to a close flat tops in general were made with more and more trim on the outside. Some became very elaborate with alignment dowels on the front on either side of the lock and on the ends where the lid met the box. |
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True Steamer Trunk
| The canvas of most wooden flat
tops is rotten by the time we find them. We remove the canvas and sand the pine
(sometimes poplar or other woods) and apply a finish. These trunks require many
hours of hard work to refinish but they're almost always worth the effort. They
make beautiful tables with lots of storage (and history). We say "refinish" as opposed to
"restore" here because the overall look of the trunk changes
dramatically but almost always for the better. This is an example of having to compromise
sometimes between history and beauty.
The third trunk above is an example of a true steamer trunk. The name steamer trunk is almost always misused. Many people tend to generalize and call all old trunks steamer trunks which is incorrect. A true steamer trunk is about half the height of most regular flat top trunks, the other dimensions are about the same as for a regular flat top. Steamers were used by passengers in their quarters during steamship voyages. Everything they would need during the voyage would be packed in that trunk and it was allowed in their room. Their other trunks, if they had them, were stored in the cargo hold and were not accessible during the journey. So, the term is associated with steam ships but not all trunks that traveled on steamships were steamers. |
| In the early part of the 20th century the standard flat top started being replaced with what we call OBTs, "ol black" trunks. Wooden staves disappeared from the outside and were replaced with nearly flat metal bars. Canvas was replaced with a very tough but drab synthetic covering that was almost always black. The trunks became more streamlined but very drab altogether. The bulbous corner trim was replaced with plain flat trim. The locks stayed about the same but the hasps also became very flat and plain. Most flat tops continued to have trays inside with some manufacturers adding an extra tray, or two! While not being the most beautiful objects around, they are precious to their owners because of the sentimental value associated with family members or friends that owned them yesteryear. |
| The Liftomatic actually originated much earlier in the standard wooden flat tops with hardwood staves. This feature was carried over into the OBT period. When the lid of this type trunk is raised a tray is also lifted up out of the box. A special metal frame is mounted and hinged to do the lifting. The tray can usually be lifted out of the frame if needed. |
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At a distance this unusual flat top with drawers looks like a standard flat top trunk with hardwood staves but when you look closer you notice the drawer pulls on the front. An interlock prevents the drawers opening if the lid is shut (presumably when the trunk is traveling). The lid opens straight up so that the trunk can be left tight against a wall and still be opened. Wall trunks are another family of flat top trunks similar to this one in that they can be opened the same way. The other wall trunks use a different and more elaborate system for the lid to open though. |
| Another type of trunk with drawers was the dresser trunk. Some of these, like wardrobe trunks, became quite elaborate. Here's an example with three drawers and what's left of the dresser top where sometimes appeared a mirror. What kept the mirror from breaking in transit? It was made of highly polished metal. As can be seen in the first photo below, many of these trunks looked like they were upside down when viewed from the front. The side view explains things a bit. The third photo shows the trunk fully opened.
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| Ernst Lange was a prominent trunk maker in Dresden, Germany. His trunks are usually characterized by their rounded edges, half-round staves and two brass locks. Much of the trim is also brass. The trunks were made of light wood covered in heavy canvas. This style of trunk is important as a transition from Victorian trunks to modern suitcases. The first example above belonged to Baron PV Von Karr who emigrated to America near the start of WWII. The second example (which is about half as tall as the other) belonged to an opera singer in Asheville, NC |
| Miniatures of lots of antique trunks were made either as doll trunks or salesman's samples. Above is an example of a beautiful little flat top doll trunk. |
| Many trunk makers made doll trunks as combination toys and advertising. The trunk below was made for little girls by the Mendel-Drucker Trunk Company in Cincinnati, OH "Like the Big Ones We Make For Mother". | |
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