Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
I found this vintage black case at my Early Bird flea market this morning.
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GJ member Lump found a similar (but not the same) case back in May that most likely belonged to a traveling National Cash Register (NCR) repairman. Here is a link to Lump's GJ thread. (Incidentally, Lump's thread attracted a former NCR repairman, JusBil, who was instrumental in identifying the case, and his four (4) total GJ posts, all on that thread, are insightful and wryly humorous.)
If you've never seen one of these before, they were built for traveling sales reps, salesmen, and repairmen. It has a deep compartment, a sort of “top box,” if you will, built in under that main flap. If you look close, you can see a line of stitching all the way around the case, outlining this main compartment.
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It also has a compartment underneath that, where tin small parts trays slide in from a flap in one end.
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The ends and bottom are pressboard, everything else is leather. The handle is a steel frame with a leather cover. I haven't measured it yet, but it's about 14" x 10" x 6".
Lump's case had no markings that I recall. This one was made by the Knickerbocker Case Company, Chicago.
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That patent (1,947,718) on the latches, granted February 30, 1934, to H.H. Labadie, for what he called a "Brief and Sample Case," was for the general construction and top latching mechanisms. To view the full patent drawings and text on the USPTO site, click here.
Like Lump's case, this case had some tools in it. These seemed to cross a few decades. Like the tools in Lump's case, a few of them - three in particular, all clearly marked with an unmistakable name, are very telling of its use. Small machine repair, to drop a big hint, but not cash registers.
I will be posting more photos of the case and the tools I found in it as soon as I have the opportunity.
View media item 75087
GJ member Lump found a similar (but not the same) case back in May that most likely belonged to a traveling National Cash Register (NCR) repairman. Here is a link to Lump's GJ thread. (Incidentally, Lump's thread attracted a former NCR repairman, JusBil, who was instrumental in identifying the case, and his four (4) total GJ posts, all on that thread, are insightful and wryly humorous.)
If you've never seen one of these before, they were built for traveling sales reps, salesmen, and repairmen. It has a deep compartment, a sort of “top box,” if you will, built in under that main flap. If you look close, you can see a line of stitching all the way around the case, outlining this main compartment.
View media item 75088
It also has a compartment underneath that, where tin small parts trays slide in from a flap in one end.
View media item 75089
The ends and bottom are pressboard, everything else is leather. The handle is a steel frame with a leather cover. I haven't measured it yet, but it's about 14" x 10" x 6".
Lump's case had no markings that I recall. This one was made by the Knickerbocker Case Company, Chicago.
View media item 75090
That patent (1,947,718) on the latches, granted February 30, 1934, to H.H. Labadie, for what he called a "Brief and Sample Case," was for the general construction and top latching mechanisms. To view the full patent drawings and text on the USPTO site, click here.
Like Lump's case, this case had some tools in it. These seemed to cross a few decades. Like the tools in Lump's case, a few of them - three in particular, all clearly marked with an unmistakable name, are very telling of its use. Small machine repair, to drop a big hint, but not cash registers.
I will be posting more photos of the case and the tools I found in it as soon as I have the opportunity.
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