I found this treasure at an estate sale right around the block from my house. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, so you can imagine my surprise when I found this gem in the basement, covered with Christmas items! I quickly ran upstairs and asked the woman how much she wanted for the cedar chest. My heart was racing as numbers ran through my head. Surely, she'd ask at least $75.00 for it as it was well worth it. Other than surface scratches, it was in mint condition.
The shelf on the interior was broken and its bottom was missing, but I examined it closely and found no broken veneer or other broken wood on the exterior. The interior looked as new as the day it was made and smelled strongly of cedar. I was so engulfed in my thoughts, I thought I misinterpreted what the woman had said about where it came from. I was already envisioning this beautiful 1940's chest restored to mint condition.
I asked her again how much she wanted for it and she tilted her head and said, "I don't know, how about $5.00?" I said, "Sold!" So I paid her for the chest and told her I'd be back in an hour with my husband and son to pick it up. Then I headed home in anticipation after I had message my two guys to make sure they don't stop anywhere on their way home from work because I needed them to pick up an item I'd purchased. Andy came over around 5:00, shortly after Jim got home from work and we all headed over to the estate sale on "Love" street, appropriately named for my lovely cedar chest. They loaded it up in the van and poor Andy had to squeeze between the chest and the seats since we had to put my "stow and go" seats down, but for the short trip home, it wasn't a biggie.
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I repaired the broken side and replaced the bottom of it. Then I stripped and sanded the top, which had cigarette burns on it and some deep gouges. I did the best I could removing them, but was unable to get rid of the deepest ones. This adds character.
I did some research on Lane cedar chests and discovered that each one has a serial number on the bottom. If you reverse that serial number, you have the date the chest was made. This chest was made on September 6, 1944.
