I know this is a strange request, but I have just purchased a very old and well-worn box that measures about two and a half feet by 14 inches and is a foot deep. Inside there is a removable tray with three sections. There is a metal medallion on the box that reads "Crompton and Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass" The medallion also has an identification number engraved on it. It was, at one time, lockable.
I bought this box to turn it into a coffee table in my son's condo, and I would love to be able to tell him what it was once used for. The inside has a faint oily or chemical smell and seems to have a lot of very dark, maybe black, stains, particularly on the inside bottom.
Can anyone help me identify the box's former use? Would the chemicals that I smell cause a health hazard?
Thanks for your help.
T. Doak
Chapel Hill, NC
