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General Upholstery Questions and Comments => General Discussion => Topic started by: Mojo on January 15, 2011, 04:26:27 pm

Title: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: Mojo on January 15, 2011, 04:26:27 pm
I picked this tin container up off E-Bay a while back and was wondering the following

1.) What decade was it from ?  30" s ?  40's ? 50's ? 60's ?

2.) What came inside it when new ? ( Thread ? )

I know we have some old people on here that may have seen one of these so I thought I would ask. :)

Thanks gang,

Chris

Here is the pic of the item - http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x200/throgmartin/Up%20Shop/?action=view&current=Shopdecorations4.jpg (http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x200/throgmartin/Up%20Shop/?action=view&current=Shopdecorations4.jpg)
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: Cheryl on January 15, 2011, 04:51:51 pm
well clearly I'm not old enough..  :P    Hahaha!     But you could email that pic  to the Burch company and I bet they'd be happy to tell you.   http://www.burchfabrics.com/index.php/about/contact (http://www.burchfabrics.com/index.php/about/contact)
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: sofadoc on January 15, 2011, 06:20:12 pm
A Burch salesman was in my grandparents shop when the news broke that JFK had been killed. I was 5 at the time. I was playing on the cutting table.
There's another bit of Burch memorabilia that I'd like to find.
It was a picture of a hobo holding all of his worldly possessions in a bag tied to a stick hanging over his shoulder.
The caption read: "I made mine in the upholstery business"
The picture came from Burch. It hung in my grandmother's shop for many years. I don't know what became of it, but I saw one just like it recently at the home of a retired upholsterer.
Anybody remember that one?
Chris: How big is that tin?
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: Cheryl on January 15, 2011, 08:11:59 pm
Sofadoc...  you might ask  PapaSage  at Carrs...  he's got couple years on most of us...
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: Mojo on January 16, 2011, 03:24:36 am
Doc:

The tin is about 4 to 5 inches tall.

BTW, keep an eye on e-bay for that ad. I have bought a lot of ad's off e-bay. :)

Chris
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: Gregg @ Keystone Sewing on January 17, 2011, 05:51:30 am
I asked my Mom, who is 66 years old, sitting behind me.  Burch was an upholstery supplier, but she does not believe the thread was made by them, only sold under their name.

Thread is maybe 30 years old (and if my Mom says that, I've learned better to add on +10 years minimum!@#).
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: sofadoc on January 17, 2011, 07:15:49 pm
Quote from: Gregg @ Keystone Sewing on January 17, 2011, 05:51:30 am
Thread is maybe 30 years old (and if my Mom says that, I've learned better to add on +10 years minimum!@#).

I'm thinking older. I was running around in the shop in the early 60's. We had Burch EVERYTHING. I don't remember a tin like that. My grandmother worked up until the early 90's. Believe me, if she had one of those tins in the 60's, she would've still had it when she retired, since she never threw ANYTHING away.
It kinda looks like it might have been a container for curve nedle thread. I wonder if it had a cap of some kind?
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: Mojo on January 18, 2011, 03:14:08 am
It looks like the top was cut off Doc.

I guess I am going to have to contact Burch and send them the pic and see what they say.

Thanks everyone for the input.

Chris
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: bigdaddygary on January 18, 2011, 05:46:34 am
Looks like it might  be a oil can with the top cut off.
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: fragged8 on January 19, 2011, 12:18:08 pm
i was thinking oil can :-)

rich
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: Mojo on January 21, 2011, 08:27:21 am
I heard back from Burch on the tin I have.

I am surprised as I thought for sure this was something that held thread. Oil sounded like a possibility but then the tin was dry and showed no oil residue on the inside.

It turned out that this tin contained " tacks ". They shipped these to their customers filled with tacks and the customer then cut the top open to remove the tacks.

They said the tin was back from the 30's so that would make it approximately 80 years old.
( That is about the same age as Darren I believe ).

So the mystery is solved. I guess we were all wrong on the dates and the contents.

Chris
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: sofadoc on January 21, 2011, 02:57:21 pm
I wonder if it was cone-shaped to make it easier to pour them into your mouth?
Title: Re: Can Someone Date This For Me
Post by: Chill on January 22, 2011, 08:33:39 am
harder to spill a cone, but I would find a way.