DuPont Powder Keg

[KathyBradford]

Brandon Sollars sent this message with intriguing pictures. Any ideas, anyone?





This head was found along with the staves and hickory bands under an old hotel in Pennyslvania that my great grandfather tore down in the early 1940s. He put them in his basment and saved them which is where I got them from last summer. When I have the time I intend to reassemble the keg for display in my living room. So far all I have done is wiped the dirt off of the face with a dry paper towel in order to be able to make out the writing on it. The nail is real obvious in the upper right hand corner in the picture with the plywood background. The individual boards are held together with dowel rods and there is no other metal in the keg's construction but I can find no reason for why a nail would be there. There has been no work done to this keg other than to taking it apart and I can see no reason why a nail would have been added at any point post manufacture but prior to when my great grandfather found it. Here are a few pictures.
Thanks,
Brandon

[unclefrank]

Re: DuPont Powder Keg

Now that is one cool find!

[Charles Heath]

Re: DuPont Powder Keg

Brandon,

That could be a pivot nail. See if there is a matching hole in one of the staves.

[Pvt./ 7NC.]

Re: DuPont Powder Keg

[QUOTE=KathyBradford;114822]Brandon Sollars sent this message with intriguing pictures. Any ideas, anyone?





This head was found along with the staves and hickory bands under an old hotel in Pennyslvania that my great grandfather tore down in the early 1940s. He put them in his basment and saved them which is where I got them from last summer. When I have the time I intend to reassemble the keg for display in my living room. So far all I have done is wiped the dirt off of the face with a dry paper towel in order to be able to make out the writing on it. The nail is real obvious in the upper right hand corner in the picture with the plywood background. The individual boards are held together with dowel rods and there is no other metal in the keg's construction but I can find no reason for why a nail would be there. There has been no work done to this keg other than to taking it apart and I can see no reason why a nail would have been added at any point post manufacture but prior to when my great grandfather found it. Here are a few pictures.
Thanks,
Brandon[/Quote

Very Interesting find I found A couple old barrels in my familys old barn but nothing like this.

[CeeBeeRebel]

Re: DuPont Powder Keg

Charles,

Were nails permited in the government specifications for the construction of powder kegs or are you figuring this could be some "second life of the barrel" addition made after it was delivered to where ever it was going originally and emptied? Also while I'm at it does anyone have any other pictures of these kegs other than the one listed on the Dupont webpage? I have been unable to find out much (any really) information on powder kegs during the Civil War and this is the only example I have seen first hand. I did find one book that might prove promising but my local library can not get it thru interlibrary loan and I don't have the sixty bucks laying around right now for it. It is Gun Powder Cans & Kegs, by Ted & David Bacyk & Tom Rowe and is currently on my Christmas wish list. I'm not sure if that would have what I need to know in it or not as it has a whole chapter on Dupont but at the same time most Dupont items I find are sporting powders from the early twentieth century so I think that might be mainly what the focus would be geared to in that book.

[red]

Re: DuPont Powder Keg

That is a very cool barrel, I'd love to see a pic or two of it once it is re-assembled.

excelent shot of the stencil aswell.

Ian Baker

[Charles Heath]

Re: DuPont Powder Keg

Were nails permited in the government specifications for the construction of powder kegs or are you figuring this could be some "second life of the barrel" addition made after it was delivered to where ever it was going originally and emptied?

Brandon,

When you research the specs for powder keg manufactury, let us know. If there are any nails mentioned, they'll likely be in the bands and not the head. If you poke around enough used cooperage you'll see any number of barrels (and boxes) with a pivot pin or nail inserted so the head can loosely slide open and shut without having to place the head back into the groove, and remove and replace the bands (or hoops) each time. Again, look for a stave with a matching hole in the end.