Carpet Bag Piece?

backintheday · Jan 7, 2011

I found these at a civil war site, but know what they came from... perhaps a bag of some sort.

DirtyMike · Jan 7, 2011

3 are from carpet bags and the other 2 are from trunks.

Bigcypresshunter · Jan 9, 2011

Could the bottom 2 be roller shade ends? Yes they had roller shades in CW era.

I would like to see a pic of these on a trunk if anyone has one.

Kenosha Kid · Jan 9, 2011

bigcypresshunter said:
Could the bottom 2 be roller shade ends? Yes they had roller shades in CW era.

I would like to see a pic of these on a trunk if anyone has one.

True, there were roller shades back then, mainly made from cloth.

The opening looks more key-like than anything else. Probably the hardware piece associated with the trunk lock (?):

http://www.trunksandtreasures.com/Trunkhardware3.html

It could just be a simple keyhole escutcheon:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390128535349

CC Hunter · Jan 9, 2011

The top three items (small open center heart shaped brass loops, with two attachment rivets), are from Victorian era corsets. These were fastened to a long thin steel strap, called the busk, that was inside the corset on one side. The other side of the corset had a nearly identical steel strap, with small brass pin studs, that hooked inside the loops we see here. Since the thin steel usually rusts completely into pieces, the small brass loops are frequently found scattered separately. Under ideal conditions where steel and iron is better preserved, I have actually found the complete corset busk straps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busk

CC Hunter