Saturday, June 22, 2013

More antique wardrobe trunks

I found another old wardrobe trunk last week. I will share some photos of it when I get some taken. It's pretty special. In the meantime, here are pictures of another that we have had for some while. I think I got it at an auction. It's a Hartmann Trip-Lex, meant for mass transit business travel, probably 1930s or 1940s vintage. It looks like this:




It comes apart in two sections. Just one latch holds it together and closed, but that latch does a great job because of the careful design.




The section shown on the bottom here is for hanging clothes, while the removable section is covered with a dust cover.




It came with wooden hangers. The metal bars on which the hangers are sitting extend so you can spread the hung clothes out to air once you are unpacking.


I use this trunk to store seldom-worn formal clothes. Here are 3 dresses on the hangers. There's a nice bar that clips in to hold them all in place.

On the other side, the dust cover unclips and folds back to reveal two folded-goods compartments with stabilizing ribbons.


Here are more of my too-fancy-to-wear-in-real-life clothes, tied neatly into the compartments.


Clip the dust cover back in place, and the trunk goes back together and latches.


Here's the Hartmann label. 



And here's my paper label so I don't have to open all my trunks to find what I need. We store out-of-season clothes and bed linens in old trunks, as well as music CDs and family pictures.

I'll post more of our trunks and old cases soon.

In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more about the Hartmann company, which is still producing wonderful luxe luggage today, click here for the company's history on its website. And to read about wardrobe trunks in general, with some great photos of different makers' work, click here.

2 comments:

Felisol said...

Dear Maria,
My sister in so many things, now also in trunks.
My face was one big smile as I read about your elaborate 1940-50 trunk, and about it still being in use.
My Norwegian/American aunts brought the noun tronk,(pronounced similar to honk), into the family as they came home from America in the early 40ies carrying a huge trunk filled with all kinds of American wonders. like nylon fabric, furs, taffeta dresses e.t.c. Hence my passion for chests and trunks.
No one so elaborate as yours with hangers and compartments.I totally was blown away as you revealed the inner beauty of your trunk.
Gunnar is a bit overwhelmed, but the truth is, we could not function without the trunks. Serina's inherited the three prettiest. She's used two of then when moving around the country and one for storage of not throw worthy items. I've got three in our living room, two in our hallway for seasonal clothings. This year it has been so cold, my summer dresses are still unpacked.Down in the ground floor there are two huge once and they haven't been opened for years. We think they may contain some of Serina's toys and books, but no one can tell for sure. They're on my "Must be done" list.Great site you referred to. I quote Snoopy as he was informed there are more than three millions Beagles in the world, "I'm not alone."
Have a wonderful midsummer or St. Hans night. Not windy, I hope.

Mrs. Mac said...

Very nostalgic! When I was a young girl the home my parents bought had a walk in attic space upstairs and there was a huge wardrobe trunk that had pull out drawers. I can't tell you how many hours I used to sit and go through the stuff left behind by the former home owner.