I am restoring an old chest and while removing a cover under the lid I found this label. As you can see, it’s completely undecipherable except for “***halle & co.” However there’s another label underneath it. I wonder if I can separate them by putting it in water (like stamps off an envelope), but I’m afraid of destroying it if it has any value whatsoever.

The chest is made of wood and metal, but it’s in a horrible state. Hinges and screws have been replaced prior to my owning, and the wood is damaged. I plan on restoring it, but would like to know it’s history. Judging by materials and the label, I recon this is from 1900-1940s and American.

  • RoxasTheNobody@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    Jesus imgbox is giving me PTSD flashbacks of dial-up. I can hear the modem yelling at me while the image tries to load. I can hear my sister yelling at me to get off the internet so she can call her friends. Wait! Wait! Is that… Ayo fuckin Ed, Edd n Eddie is on!

    • bstix@feddit.dkOP
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      11 months ago

      Yeah I noticed that. What else is available that works well? I think that Imgur is horrible on mobile. Also I don’t want to sign up for shit just to post a picture.

        • bstix@feddit.dkOP
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          11 months ago

          I’ve done that before, but I didn’t have the option here. Maybe it’s the app.

    • ValiantDust@feddit.de
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      11 months ago

      Wow, I’m always impressed what kind of stuff the people in communities like this can dig up.
      When I saw the photo earlier I thought there was no chance of finding anything out. After seeing your comment it seems very likely you found the answer. This is what I love about the internet.

    • bstix@feddit.dkOP
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      11 months ago

      Could very well be spot on. I’m in Denmark and bought this off DBA anyway. Thanks .While the chest is probably not of any historical value, I’m comforted by the fact that I’m not destroying anything by restoring it within my abilities. I’ll sand it, paint and maybe add some bracing. The purpose is to make use of it, like everyone who owned this before.

  • snowsuit2654@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    11 months ago

    It looks like there might be a capital L or I and a capital S as well. Further, the lowercase h could also be a lowercase b. It’s slightly curved on the right.

    • federalreverse-old@feddit.de
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      11 months ago

      Definitely “L. S***halle & Co.”

      The L has a bigger serif on the left, if that was an I, the serifs would most likely be evenly sized. The h is shaped inward but not enough to meet the stem. Wondering if the letter after the S is a u.

    • bstix@feddit.dkOP
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      11 months ago

      No, not on the wood anywhere. There are several layers of paint and I was quite surprised to find the label under cardboard cover.

      Wait… I have the handles which I cleaned for paint using terpentine. Not sure if they’re original, but the side handles have markings on the inside that says “2 Turner H.038 Australia”.

      Guess it’s from Australia. Or at least the hardware.

      https://ibb.co/pPgLysg