From 1912 until 2001, when the Lane Company closed its doors after 89 years on the market, cedar chests were a sought-after household item. These lovely things, often known as “hope chests,” come in a variety of forms through the years. The year it was manufactured and the style are two of the most important things to consider when estimating the worth of a Lane cedar chest. The greater the cedar chest’s worth and attraction to people who desire it, the older and rarer it is.
Decide on the Style and Form
Chests were manufactured in a variety of styles, including Art Deco, Chippendale, Mid-Century Modern, and Danish Modern. Even although they were produced in the 1920s, Lane manufactured chests in typical antique styles like Queen Anne. If your chest was manufactured in the 1920s or 1930s, you may be in possession of a priceless piece of furniture. Collectors will pay top dollar for a rare hand-painted three-drawer Lane cedar chest from the late 1920s. A single-lid chest from the 1970s with a lot of replicants isn’t as desirable.
Lane cedar chests may be found for as little as $99 and as much as $700 or more, depending on their age, condition, and rarity. However, most chests are worth between $200 and $400 on average. To choose the style of your cedar chest, compare it to the variations currently on the market.
Determine the age of the object
A serial number may be found on every Lane cedar chest. When reading the number from right to left or backward, it also serves as the chest’s production date. This implies that most chests have a five- or six-digit number that indicates the month, day, and two-digit year they were manufactured. From left to right, a chest created on April 1, 1940, would read 04140. Chests with at least six digits are often created on two-digit days and in two-digit months. The plant number is the first number in the series if the serial number contains seven digits.
Examine Its Situation
Examine the chest thoroughly to evaluate its current status. Except for the lock, scratches, worn cedar, and missing hardware reduce the chest’s worth, particularly when compared to one in perfect condition. The value of a chest reduces if it has been repainted, re-stained, or has any after-market modifications. Some rare versions of these chests came off the assembly line with upholstery that was part of the original design, so do your homework to see whether everything on your chest is original.
Removal of the safety lock
When the lid shuts on a chest made before 1987, the lock automatically catches and locks shut. In 2014, this resulted in the deaths of a brother and sister who were trapped within the chest and suffocated. Six additional children died in the same way, prompting the manufacturers to recall the locks in 1996, and a seventh kid died just before the chests were discontinued. Although many individuals have removed the locks from the chests, the business believes that roughly 6 million of the 12 million chests made during this time period still lack the safety locks. Chests with the original locks may be worth more or less than those without. If the lock hasn’t been changed yet, do it right away or remove it for your own safety.