The Old Trunk at the Foot of the Bed

Misty Hollow Carving
This BLOG is sponsored by “Misty Hollow Carving”. You are welcome to visit Misty Hollow and see all of my carvings.

My Web Site is a like a Gallery – please drop in for a stroll through.

To help me promote my Web Site please copy this URL address and email to someone today http://www.murraylincoln.com/

* * * * * * * *
Today’s Blog Post
The Old Trunk at the Foot of the Bed

There is something that my grandkids will never know about. They will never travel with one. They likely will never have one in their homes. In fact unless they make a point of purchasing one as an antique they will never own one either.

The thing that I am talking about is big and clumsy and at times very heavy to lift. It is kind of ugly but yet has a certain beauty about it. It certainly has a hundred stories connected to it.

Now if you read the title of this post you would know that it is the old trunk. But without the title it would certainly make a good riddle for the grandkids.

At one point we had three of these old trunks.

The first trunk was shipped from Saskatchewan to Trois Rivieres, Quebec with all of our worldly treasures when we got married. It came into our possession when we bought it new in Regina, Saskatchewan… but it was made in Montreal. And as it traveled to Trois Rivieres, it went through Montreal again. From Trois Rivieres it traveled on top of our car to Fredericton, New Brunswick; from there to Oakville, Ontario; from there to Walkerton, Ontario; from there back to Oakville, Ontario; from there to Truax, Saskatchewan(while we lived in Hong Kong); from there back to Oakville and then Scarborough, Ontario… and then to Yorkton and then Regina, Saskatchewan… and finally to Peterborough, Ontario.

That old trunk had stayed with us for over 40 years with many of our treasured things in it.

It was well worn and almost dangerous towards the end. It had been moved too many times and sometimes harshly treated by the “thug type” movers that were hired and could care less about that old blue trunk.

On the second move that it underwent it was riding on top of the car tied to car top carrier. The snow fall on that trip to Fredericton, New Brunswick from Trois Rivieres, Quebec totaled 27 inches in 24 hours. Its weight on top of the car was a great help getting through the deep and wet snow.

As I pulled the car into the final motel that we were to stay in for the next week, I drove over a deep rut that caused the car to shift rapidly from side to side… and the Blue Trunk flew off the car and on to the driveway. The straps holding everything on had loosened in the storm and we didn’t know it – until the trunk flew off the car!

The trunk was tough and its frame was made of sturdy wood covered with a heavy metal and slats with brass corners and hinges plus hardware.

If the trunk could talk, oh the stories that it could tell of the places that it has been.

The second trunk is much older. It was made in Southern Texas by my Great Grandfather August Schleede in about 1890 to 1900 when they left Texas for California to own and operate an Orange Orchard. The old trunk carried all my Grandmother’s treasures as a girl from Texas, to California, to Oregon, to Southern Saskatchewan. Later when she married Charles Kirkpatrick it stood faithfully at the end of their bed holding all the linens and other treasures that my Grandma Emma Kirkpatrick owned.

Every time there was a wedding or a celebration in the family the old trunk would get a new coat of wall paper.

I met the trunk first at the end of that old bed. We would stand on it and jump over the end of the bed and bounce around like we were on a trampoline. Oh the fun of those rainy days inside the old farm house!

When it moved from the farm west of Truax to the city of Regina, it went with Grandma and Grandpa and served them again for a number of years in their new home.

One day after my Grandpa has passed away, Grandma took a notion that she didn’t want “that old thing anymore” and dragged it out for the garbage men to take it away.

My mom happened by that very day and saw the old trunk. It went to her car instead of the garbage truck and then eventually to me when mom no longer wanted it.

Mom stripped away the many layers of wall paper. Then I stripped away the gray coating that was all over to the trunk.

It is made of camphor wood that was used to make caskets in southern Texas. My Great Grandpa had made a decision that this was the best wood to build something sturdy.

Today it is in our home still holding our treasures.

The third trunk is an inherited treasure trunk. It came from England to Truax, Saskatchewan and then traveled back and forth to England a number of times on trains and the Cunard Shipping line. It joined us when my mom moved to Ontario in 2007.

Why tell all of these stories? Why bother with old junk like this?

Well some day when I come to the end of it all, my kids and my grandkids need to know why Grandpa kept all this old stuff… and the value of the treasure they have. Each is filled with Memories – wonderful Memories that can’t be discarded!

Some day when I am making my last earthly move and the kids try to explain why I can’t take the old trunks with me… they need to understand the tears in my eyes.

The old trunks were faithful and served us so well. Each one has a story… a wonderful living story… Oh boy.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Note: For more information on Old Trunks and the many different kinds.. check out..
http://www.oldtrunks.com/history/historypages/stagecoach_trunks.htm