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