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What is this bridle hide case made for?

post #1 of 17
4/22/10 at 4:35pm
Thread Starter 
I picked up the bridle hide case below at an estate sale at a very nice home.

What the hell is it?

It's about 12" wide by 9" tall with a depth of about 5". It's a very nice and thick hide that has aged. It's in great shape except for a few dings. The hardware is first class and it had the original lock and keys ( working too ).

Here's the strange thing. When you open it up the insides only go down about 5" to a bottom. And then the final 4" are a separate compartment that is accessed by a snap on the side. I tries to show this in the pictures and if you closely it should make sense.

The bottom compartment is wood lined too! It seems like the right size for a wine bottle but the piece doesn't seem built for that. Anyone have any idea what it is?

Oh yes, it said "Panzer" inside when I bought it.




















What the hell is it for?
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post #2 of 17
4/22/10 at 4:48pm
Smuggling stuff. Or, it looks like it'd fit a 750ml bottle of booze nicely.
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post #3 of 17
4/22/10 at 8:27pm
That looks to be an interesting case.

Good for smuggling cash perhaps?
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post #4 of 17
4/23/10 at 3:11am
That's a very conspicuous closure for a smuggling compartment. I like the wine/hooch idea. Looks like a nice square edged bottle of Bushmills 16 would fit nicely.
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post #5 of 17
4/23/10 at 10:27am
Would it be for rolled up items, like blue prints?
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post #6 of 17
4/23/10 at 10:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Girardian View Post
That's a very conspicuous closure for a smuggling compartment. I like the wine/hooch idea. Looks like a nice square edged bottle of Bushmills 16 would fit nicely.

Yeah, I too thought of hooch when I saw it. I guess the upper compartment is for glasses?
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post #7 of 17
4/23/10 at 10:50am
Nice bag! Looks to be custom-made...do you know anything about the original owner that may indicate the purpose of the compartment?
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post #8 of 17
4/23/10 at 2:58pm
My guess is that it is for an architect. They could roll up plans and blueprints and place them in the reinforced lower compartment and carry them without fear of crushing them.
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post #9 of 17
4/23/10 at 4:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alter View Post
Nice bag! Looks to be custom-made...do you know anything about the original owner that may indicate the purpose of the compartment?

No, I don't know anything of the original owner.

The quality is particularly nice.

Interestingly enough I passed it on to a buddy that is starting a world tour. The case will be all over Europe and South America this year.

Some of these estate items have amazing stories. If only they could talk!

I was thinking first the bottom compartment was for wine or liquor. But it doesn't seem to be built for that.

As for blueprints and a professional use, I wonder why they would have assembled it with a wood frame around the bottom portion? I, too think it was custom made as a one off piece.
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post #10 of 17
4/24/10 at 11:54am
Uh, guys, the quoted post is spam...
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post #11 of 17
4/24/10 at 12:33pm
Too small for any blueprints I've ever seen.

I'm thinking maybe it would fit a Rolleiflex TLR.
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post #12 of 17
4/24/10 at 2:15pm
It is almost too conveniently sized not to be meant as a travelling bar case. It lacks the usual straps and vertical holders for a typical travelling bar not meant to resemble anything else, so the side compartment might be meant to allow double-purpose use without drawing attention to the bottle compartment. The wood divider would allow two bottles to be carried without knocking together. Although the Crest Lock Co. hardware is American, I remember seeing some cases with this briefbag construction in Italy (minus the bottle box.) So I am guessing it is a bar case.
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post #13 of 17
4/24/10 at 3:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wallcloud View Post
My guess is that it is for an architect. They could roll up plans and blueprints and place them in the reinforced lower compartment and carry them without fear of crushing them.

you seem to be to the right track here "PANZER" does mean reinforced in german,as in PANZERSCHRANK (safe)
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post #14 of 17
4/24/10 at 3:42pm
Or it is just the prior owner's name, duh.
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post #15 of 17
4/24/10 at 3:47pm
I have seen this before at an estate sale here in CT. The old gent that was selling his used it for booz - may not be correct use, however seemed to work very well for him. Use it for what fits in in and what you need to carry
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