Author Topic: Foot Locker whatzit?  (Read 1392 times)

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Offline john k

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Foot Locker whatzit?
« on: November 11, 2016, 09:25:44 PM »
When I was in the Army, had one of the old plywood footlockers.  Certainly know what they look like.  At a local thrift I have been eyeing a similar size trunk.   Today I knelt down and gave it the one over.   I knew it had machine cut dovetails, on all four sides.  Top appears to be plywood, lots of paint.  On the bottom, and by the hinges there is some  Olive Drab paint.  In fact it is the base coat.  No names, stencils or writing on the box anywhere.  Nearly the same size as the regulation army footlocker.  The lift out tray is missing, but rested on two dowels located on either side.  Inside is bare wood, again no names, scribbling, nothing.  The hinges are steel, with the feature to let the lid rock all the way back and down.  Hasp is just that, one, for a padlock.  Handles on either end, fold down steel, standard looking things.  The dovetails are near perfect, corners are rounded slightly.   No damage or water damage to speak of.  Has the appearance of age, 70, 80 years or more?   Doesn't look like they issued footlockers in the Great War,  so anyone got any ideas a to origin.  Wouldn't even ask but for that OD paint and being so well made. 
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Offline Guido Salvage

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Re: Foot Locker whatzit?
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2016, 09:35:29 PM »
A picture or 2 might help. I have a couple from the Signal Corp that I got via surplus in the early '70's.
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Offline john k

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Re: Foot Locker whatzit?
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2016, 10:38:46 PM »
Oh, unlike the standard plywood locker,  there are no metal corners or braces of any type.   Be tough to photo, stacked in a dark corner in a large building.
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Offline Analog

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Re: Foot Locker whatzit?
« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2016, 09:11:54 PM »
I do not believe what you described to be a standard issue footlocker. All the footlockers I am familiar with have the ends butted and used angle brackets and rivets to hold them together. Also the side handles were wooded not folding metal.
That being said What It could be is: A private purchase footlocker, a reusable shipping / storage container. or possibly not even military. For instance how many file cabinets, parts bins, etc have you come across that are painted OD but were for commercial usage. Also the Govt. loves to stencil and label the heck out of whatever the contents are. The Standard U.S. Army footlocker only had U.S. stenciled on top. It could have been repainted though.
What are the dimensions? I can compare them to the ones that I have.