Brettuns Village Trunks & Leather

Old Trunks, New Leather.  All from Maine.

December 21, 1999

Hi Everybody:

Just wanted to get a note
out to each and every one of you letting you

know that we wish you a
warm, safe, and happy holiday season.  My

personal wish for you is
that you have time, during this hectic season,

to sit down, put your feet
up, and enjoy the sights and sounds that are

all around at this time
of year.  When you put your feet up, by the way,

be sure that they’re resting
on a trunk from Brettun’s Village.

Couldn’t resist.

No snow, and none on the
way, so it’s looking like a brown Christmas up

here.  Ground’s barely
even frozen yet, thanks to this weather.  Coldest

we’ve hit yet has been 12
degrees, if I remember correctly.  I can

guarantee you it’ll get
colder before it gets warmer.  It’s been below

freezing every night, so
the ski areas are making snow like crazy.  Rope

your boards to the roof
rack and come on up!

We’re still waiting for our
trunk handles to get through the stitching

line.  There’s been
a delay on the manufacturing end, but we’re hopeful

that we’ll get our first
batch in the next week.

A few more trunks have come
in, even though it is usually a slow time

for the business. 
Not many auctions, yard sales all done for the year,

so the Picker Brigade doesn’t
have many places to do their picking.

Sales have been up, as once
again we’ve experienced our own version of a

Christmas rush (sold more
than one trunk on a single day).

Quick note – we’ve had questions
from many of you about Salesman’s

Sample trunks.  Seems
the problem is that many anntique dealers will

list any small trunk as
a salesman’s sample.  Last week, two of you

asked for our help in checking
out a small trunk that was shown on

eBay.  It was listed
as a sample, but it wasn’t one.  Just a small

accessory trunk, very common
in their day.  They are nice, small trunks,

but it’s too bad when dealers
list them as something they aren’t.  Small

trunks were made for a person
(usually a woman) to carry along

accessories that would be
needed enroute; the sort of things that a

person simply couldn’t do
without while waiting for 2,000 trunks to be

unoladed from a steamship. 
These little trunks are also sold as

children’s trunks, just
because they’re small.  Don’t believe it.  True

saleman’s sample trunks
will be decorated with all types of advertising

about the trunk maker –
quite simply, you’ll know one when you see one.

They really stand out. 
By the way, the small trunk on eBay that we

looked at ended up selling
for more than $400, just because someone

thought they were getting
a true rarity.  They got a bad deal instead.

We have a term for that
around here – “stealing”.

If you’re traveling during
this season, take your time and enjoy the

sites – like the people
who get all huffy in the airport.  They’re

darned entertaining. 
Take a deep breath, remember you’re on vacation,

and it’ll all turn out fine.

Enjoy the spirit of giving
this year, and make the very most of your

holiday.  It truly
is the most wonderful time of the year, don’t you

think?

Warm wishes-

—

Churchill, Amanda, Rebecca,
and Hayley Barton

Brettuns Village Trunk Shop

Brettun’s Village Leather