Jennifer Kretovic unlocked the worn steamer trunk Thursday night and saw what looked like a really big fondue fork – the kind King Kong might use.
A World War I helmet with a dent on top was uncovered from the trunk, a 100-year-old piece of luggage found in the Concord home of the prestigious Flanders family, stored elsewhere for years, then discovered a few months ago in a forgotten storage unit.
This, the Concord Historical Society figured, could become the featured item for its Veterans Day tribute at the Kimball-Walker Estate, after learning that all potential speakers were booked or unavailable that night. Why not look inside the trunk to reveal its never-before-seen contents? Live, in front of an audience?
Local media giant and filmmaker John Gfroerer and Jim Milliken, president of the Concord Historical Society, spread the word online, but only four people – a young couple and two older gentlemen – showed.
They were offered chocolate chip cookies and bottled water, spread out on 13 empty white seats in two rows.
“I really thought more people would come,” Gfroerer said.
Those who showed learned the fork’s function. Milliken turned it into a game show. No one knew the answer, that this slender piece of wood was a laundry fork from the turn of the century, used to stir clothing around for better cleaning.
That’s what this was about. Learning, a way to expand knowledge at places like the local Historical Society and The Concord Public Library.
The World War I helmet, worn by one of our doughboys, had a dent on top. No information on who owned it or how the dent might have gotten there was documented inside the trunk.
“If anyone out there is a World War I person who’s interested in studying more, please contact me,” Milliken said during his pre box-opening comments. “Maybe there are some things we can learn.”
The Historical Society had inherited items from the home 15 years ago. “It was tucked away with lots of antiques,” Milliken said, “No one wanted it. We cleaned everything out and put it in storage, thinking we’d pull it out as time went on.”
The trunk sat in storage all those years. A few months ago, Gfroerer and Milliken, cleaning and sorting and planning the future of some of these antiques, found it in storage.
They didn’t think much about it at the time. Gfroerer peeked inside, saw an odd piece of slender wood and the helmet and closed the trunk.
“I opened it to see if anything was in there,” Gfroerer said. “There was a bunch of stuff, a World War I helmet, but at that point, I wasn’t interested in exploring. I just closed it.”
When it became clear that the Historical Society hadn’t booked a speaker leading up to Veterans Day, the solution was clear.
Open the trunk. Let’s see history. Local history. Live and in color.
This form of entertainment is fraught with danger, of course. Geraldo Rivera and his mustache began spicing up the news 35 years ago, when 30 million viewers tuned in live to see him open Al Capone’s vault. He found dirt, water and empty gin bottles. No money. No jewels. No body.
This was a better show, although the audience was a little smaller.
The cover of darkness set the perfect stage for this mystery. Bill Kretovic used a dolly to lug the trunk into the Carriage House at Kimball-Jenkins.
He and his wife, Ward 3 City Councilor Jennifer Kretovic, were part of the informal staff helping to display the contents. Gfroerer filmed the proceedings.
I wondered about money and jewels, a secret inheritance, something really valuable inside.
“If there’s a million dollars in there, the Historical Society just hit the jackpot,” Milliken told me.
The trunk had a torn canvas covering wood. Its lock was broken, but the crew had attached a piece of leather and a shiny gold Master Lock, neither of which looked like it belonged.
Milliken paid tributes to veterans. He provided background, that the day was changed from Armistice Day to Veterans by President Eisenhower in 1954. He recited quotes, from Lincoln and Washington and Nathan Hale.
Jennifer unlocked the steamer, revealing the big fork on top. Then the helmet. Below that were two old, faded satchels, one of which contained tarot cards. No one knows why.
There were Christmas cards, a water bill from Franklin, a washboard, little boxes containing little Masonic medals and cufflinks, and a framed certificate of recognition, presented to Ralph W. Flanders.
His 40th anniversary wedding book from 1963 was in there, newspaper articles from the Fisherville dated 1876, a pair of silver serving spoons. The bottom of the trunk was lined with a newspaper still active in Manchester, dated 1924.
It was a hodgepodge of items, covering the 19th and 20th centuries, with no central theme anchoring it.
But it clobbered the conclusion of Rivera’s show, presenting a utensil from another era, plus other artifacts. Not dirty water and empty bottles.
The items are earmarked for the Historical Society’s new facility, located on the second floor at Kimball-Jenkins. That includes the trunk and the big fork.
“It was just kind of an ugly-looking trunk,” Milliken said. “It was of no interest to anyone, so we took possession.”