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| A Sweetheart Cedar Chest |
Years ago, I can't remember exactly what year it was, but after 1999, I bought a cedar chest in a local antique store. It was in the basement and priced at forty dollars! A good price even though it had water damage. I wanted to use it for storage and was not concerned with how it looked. I put it upstairs in my house and there it stayed. I stored all my afghans and other treasured items in it. They were protected from mice, bugs and dust. I used to sit on it when I was up there taking pictures of items I was listing on eBay. It was a very sturdy chest. But when I moved it around the foot on one side would fall off. So I was careful.
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| There is some water damage and the foot on the right side. |
Finally after many years upstairs, I wanted it moved downstairs next to my bed. I was not able to go up the stairs and had a bed in the living room. I used it for my clothing and as a coffee table and night stand combination. Actually a cedar chest is a good piece of furniture to use as a stand as it can double for storage too. In 2018 when I moved from the house to my small apartment, I had to be conscious of each item I brought with me. It needed to be necessary and if possible storage items were most needed. So the cedar chest moved with me.
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| Manufactured by Ed Roos Company |
Now I have had a chance to really examine it. The original paper label says "This is a Genuine Sweetheart Chest" and was manufactured by Ed Roos Company, Forest Park, Ill. They manufactured wooden hope or bridal chests, as they were called back then. The sweetheart chest and others they made were sold worldwide. The chests were made from three million feet of cedar that was cut from 1200 trees yearly. During World War II the business was shut down by the government because it was considered a luxury item. It never really bounced back after that, so it was sold in 1951. (Roos Family)
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| Moved! |
It is sturdy enough that I could put cushions on it for seating. I can't see having that many people to seat in my apartment! lol So I have put my photos and my gel pens on it. It now takes care of the problem of blocking the electric outlet from my free roaming bunny. I could always refinish it and make it more attractive. Instead I want to keep it original since I read about the company that manufactured it. They did an incredible job!
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| Still stapled to the inside of the lid! |
They included a three year moth insurance policy which was a hundred dollar value at that time. Well, I have never had any moth damage inside of it and it is well beyond that policy. I am sure there are many more of these chests around since they were so well made. A tribute to a hardworking responsible company!
2 comments:
Very nice ,, I know you treasure your chest and it has been very useful and has had the best care and has been a very useful item for you ...
Thank you for reading my post today!
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