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I have a 42" x 17" x 17" cedar chest with 2 1/2" legs and rounded corners. It is made from 3/4" thick red cedar boards. It is glued and screwed together with cedar 'caps' covering the screws. It has no identifiable manufacturer's markings. The hinges and lid guides are brass, or a brass-colored metal. the lock operates with an old style key that has a hole in its end (key is missing). The legs have been drilled for swivel-wheeled feet. I have a mis-matched set of four feet; three are cheap 'stamped' metal with a metal wheel; the fourth is also 'stamped', but with a wooden wheel. I have no idea which style was original, if either.
The outside has been varnished at some point in time; inside is unfinished wood.
I would like to know the age and manufacturer and where a workable key may be found. Family stories say the chest was my maternal grandmothers, making it a 1910 to 1930 piece out of Pennsylvania. But, it may have been my paternal grandmothers, in which case it would be an 1880 to 1940 piece out of Minnesota.
Thanks, Mike
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Re: Cedar Chest
From the look of it it dates from the 1930's, but originally it would have been covered with walnut or mahogany veneer. Chests like this were prone to the veneer peeling and bubbling, the cost of repair often exceeding the chests value, so it was removed and the cedar case refinished. We retail these for about $225.00