It's all about the Case!

What do you see, when you look at me;

Worn old disrepair?

                                                                             Battered, rusty, ripped and torn;

                                 

                                                                                  Do you  really care?        

I was owned, and much loved once,

I was even of some use.



                                                                               But that was oh so long ago,

                                                                                   I'm now a sad excuse.

 

I started to work on the old suitcase that I hauled home last week.  You can see by the pictures that it wasn't in the best of shape.  It was dirty, all the metal parts were badly rusted, and the paper lining inside was bubbled or completely gone.  One of the snap closures didn't work, and it smelled really really bad.

First order of work was to get it smelling almost okay enough to get it in the house, so I opened it up and left it sit outside in the sun one whole day.  The cool air and sunshine really got rid of the odor.  I peeled off as much as of the musty paper inside that I could.

Next it was taking it inside and scrubbing it down with magic eraser (on the leather, or cloth part) not sure at this point what actually covers the case on the outside.  I took steel wool to the metal bands around the case and all the rust came off.  The metal findings are all copper, and they cleaned up beautifully.

Then out came the Armoral - even though the case is nowhere ready for this - I wanted to see what it would look like clean and shinny.

For now I have left the two papers or labels that are glued on the outside of the case alone and I am doing some research to see what I can find out about this old suitcase.

For now, I can tell you that it belonged to someone associated with a  D. Hewitt & Co. Ltd,  in London England, and at some time in this suitcase's life it took a journey from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, because this label says so.

Maybe it's the writer in me that won't let the history associated with this case just go away.  I have a very definite purpose for this case, but first - I want to find out as much as I can about it.

So come along on this new Journey with me... who knows where it will end!