Antique Theatrical Or Dresser Trunk
Circa 1915
Restored For Our Friend Peggy
For Donation To A Schoolhouse Museum
May 2009

Peggy previously purchased a theatrical trunk from us and reported back that she was quite
pleased. A few months later she sent this one for a little clean up and it is to be donated to her local
museum which is housed in an old schoolhouse.

It is a large trunk which opens up from the front bottom (hinges are on the top) and inside there are
drawers and a lid compartment. Often this style is referred to as a theatrical or dresser trunk. Of this
style, the two primary makers were Frank Stallman and Homer Young. It is a rather flashy trunk and
Homer Young had a good bit of flair about his work, but I am not entirely convinced it was either so
we will say maker unknown, possibly Young.

The outside is an alligator pattern imitation leather. Today we would call something similar to this a
patterned vinyl with backing. The trim is a hard fiber and the nail spacing is quite tight and
decorative although the nails are very rusty. The hardware was brass coated with a thin layer of
copper underneath for better adhesion of the brass and in various stages of aging from simply
tarnished to slightly rusty. One of the locks was broken off and the leather straps and handles
needed replacing. Still, a very nice trunk.

The inside has it original covering which is an unbacked vinyl type material on the outside of the
drawers and a material in the inside. There is some wear and tear and discolorations but for the
most part it is complete.
The inside remains original with the inside drawer material treated with a non-hypoallergenic
coating that will seal it and eliminate odors. The interior outer covering was treated and sealed as
well and in person does a pretty fair job of passing itself off as red leather.
The remaining work primarily consists of giving the finish a few days to settle and then going back
over the trunks finish one more time. Then the leather straps that encircle the trunk will be installed
and a final picture added. But for the most part, this trunk is pretty much completed
To The Antique Trunk Restoration Page


There were several directions that could have been taken with this trunk. All of which would result
in a nice antique. But the combination of the unusual coverings and the knowledge that this trunk
will be a museum piece led me to taking the path of least change to the original character. It would
not be "perfect" and flaws would remain but I envisioned it looking "strong", as in STRONG. This
was discussed with Peggy and she gave me the go ahead to do what I thought best.

The first item of business was removing the damaged parts and leather. Next there was a couple
thousand nail heads that needed rust removal. With those things completed, work was started on
the hardware of which there is a good bit. As stated earlier, the hardware was in various stages of
aging. Those that were just tarnished were lightly polished while others got down to the copper
coating and those that were rusted, down to the metal. Most of the pieces have a combination of the
three. A little unusual but with character and I believe in the end, will work well on this trunk. A
couple of the strap keepers were busted and new ones were cut in the same pattern from a full
thickness leather hide of the same color and then the broken lock was replaced with an almost
identical match of the same period.
Next, work was started on cleaning up the interior and exterior coverings. There was some touch up
work performed but blending colors is a problem on something like this so I did as little as possible
just knocking out some of the damage and leaving a certain amount that would appear normal and
acceptable on each side.  It is a large trunk so no one spot here or there would be overly distracting
it was felt. With things cleaned and touched up, it is time to shine it up.