interesting find?

[Josh]

Lifer,

I think WI has the same rules, but, I dont really care, especially if Im using them on my own door cause Im too cheap to pay for my stupidity!

[T. Highway]

In WI, locksmiths and auto mechanics can have lock pick tools. I hope you find something other than rocks inside that thing. Keep us posted.

[PiRiM37]

Very interesting. I actually have an identical box (though I haven't looked closely at any markings) that I use as a fire box to store important records. It does open by rotating the handle. Mine has heavy duty handles on both sides (which I can't see in your picture). The handles make it difficult to stand on end to use like a regular safe, so it appears that it should lie like your picture. The previous comment about it being chained to something else is certainly believable as it is heavy but not impossible to move. My box had a hole cut in the back/bottom, with the cutout piece still sitting in the box. This was a relatively easy weld back into place. I wonder what the story was there, as I actually have 2 keys for it and it is impossible to lock them inside.

[Montanaorbust]

I got the box open. But the mystery still continues... Upon opening the box, we discovered that there were no chains and locks, However, there are a few interesting items. I will take a pic tonite and post.. But, there are some plaques of industrial boilers, nice heavy plaques, dated 1930's great condition, i guess. They are about, 12'' x 12'' stamped out of 1/2'' plate it looks like, Maybe brass or bronze. Very interesting. I have never worked in a boiler house, i'm not for sure if why they would be saved, or if they have an value. But, thye are pretty cool. I'm sure i can find somewhere in the garage to hang them.. Also, there were round things. They look old as hell. Dont know what they are, i'll get you all a pic up, i'm sure you folks could help me out on identifying them. If i was guessing, well i ready dont have a clue. They are round, smaller than a basketball, made to hang down from something, it has openings in the top. I think you may put diesel of kerosene in it, and light it. Maybe some kind of lantern or touch candles. Stand-by..

[Lifer]

Without seeint it, I'm guessing that the "round thing" is a highway flare. They were common around construction areas back before battery-operated flashing amber lights came along. Nice thing about them was that they kept mosquitoes at bay while they were burning.

[Rusty S.]

Without seeint it, I'm guessing that the "round thing" is a highway flare. They were common around construction areas back before battery-operated flashing amber lights came along. Nice thing about them was that they kept mosquitoes at bay while they were burning.

You are thinking of "Toledo Torches" They always reminded me of the bombs from Roadrunner and Wyle Coyote cartoons. The tops unscrew to fill with kerosene. We had them around my town in the early `80s still. I have two in my shed. Some catalog company was selling repros at one time. Thinner steel and made in China, of course.

[SydneyM37]

The one thing I know for sure about that box is, there aint NO WAY my wife would let me put it on a white carpet!
Tim

Like your style tim

[Montanaorbust]

I spent a little time cleaning this one up

[Montanaorbust]

i mean this one

[Lifer]

Neat stuff! The plates aren't worth locking away in a strongbox for 50 years or so (except maybe to the "right person"), but it's still a "treasure."

[powerwagontim]

Those plates are really cool.
My Great Great Grandfather owned a fire equipment company, called the "Holloway Apparatus Company" They had improved on the manufacture of chemical engines. They also made ladder wagons etc. They were later bought out by Ahrens or American LaFrance, I cant remember which. In the late 60s, my Father got a call from a foundry that was cleaning out their back room and had a bunch of the cast bronze plates, like in your pictures. They asked my Father if he wanted them, his response was "what the hell would I want them for? So, they probably hit the scrap pile. To this day I cant believe he let them slip away like that.
Tim

[m-37Bruce]

The torches sound like what we used to call Smuge Pots, same use as Rusty & Lifer spoke of?
At least that is what my Dad used to call them.

[Montanaorbust]

ive been doing some homework.. Riley stoker corp. was bought out by another company some twenty years ago.. I contacted a sales rep. sent him some photos, just trying to get a hit, asking about the nameplate. I was trying to post his email, hmm. So, he got back with me within hours, with a lot of imformation. This boiler, not for sure about the others, but i would think, they are all from the same boilerhouse. He told me that, this Boiler was built for a company called Ecusta Paper Mill, Bervard North Carolina. This nameplate is the oldest of all, its was installed in 1929. He personally had great interest in the artifact, and asked if i would part with it. Ecusta Paper Mill was a piller in the community of Bervard, unfortunitlly the union, and internal corruption was the demise of this hundred year old company. After reading his email, i felt that he has a unique understanding and passion about boilers, hell it sounded strange, but I cant say anything, I have a passion for old military iron. He went on to explain how much work was involved in the building of these boilers, and the pride the men who built them placed in there work. The things he said and wrote, gave me a true feeling nostalgia. He is going to see if what he can find out about the others. So are they worth anything, i ask myself. but, i suppose value is in the eyes of the beholder. I still have another pic or two to take and post. will keep yall informed.

[Montanaorbust]

Oops.. Howd that 60 years later in the jungles of east tennessee pic, i shot today get in here.

[m-37Bruce]

Smudge Pots!