If some random person called you up and said they had your great grandpas luggage suitcase from when he came over from Germany back in 1932 and wanted to give it to you would you be thrilled to have it or would you be like what the heck? I bought an old suitcase at a garage sale last summer cause it looked cool and it was like $10. I'm now decluttering and realize I want to get rid of it. Some people told me to make it into a coffee table but that would be ruining it IMO. After examining the worn out stickers on it and spending some time online I was able to figure out who it belonged to and now have names of the descendants who just so happen to live in my area. So I'm gonna call them up and see if they want it. I hope they appreciate it and don't think I'm a weirdo or sell it at an antique store. Personally I think it would be awesome to have my relatives luggage from when they came to the U.S. What do you think?
My grandma has our lineage traced back to the pilgrim times, its been her hobby for the last 30 years.
I guess the correct term would be steamer trunk. The cool thing about it IMO are the original shipping company stickers as well as a customs stamp on it. I have no idea if these are common or not or worth any money but one quick call to an antique store and the guy wasn't interested. Think I'll call a few more to get an idea. Anybody know if these are worth anything? The sticker that led me to figure out who it was had the ship company name, name of passenger (it was kind of scratched off so I had to spend a lot of time looking at possibilities) and the ship name and date of sail. On ancestry.com I was able to find the guys name saying he sailed on that ship on that date under that company. I'll post in the future after I give it to the relatives. Hopefully it doesn't end up being the guy I bought it from at his garage sale lol. Here's some pics.
I have a friend that started a web site about the area that I live in. LostTexasRoads - Welcome to Lost Texas Roads Its actually got a story on there about one of my ancestors that was shot in a shoot out and lived. Maybe you can get a story about who owned it. The good ol days when life seemed more simple than now. Curious as to how it all plays out. Either way always fun to play that investigator that finds what he's looking for.
My father's side of the family is linked to the original Mayflower Pilgrims. The records have been kept since and before they left jolly old England.
