The Chicago Antiques Guide Blog
Roos Cedar Chests - History & Information
Posted Sunday, January 16 by CAG •
It appears that I am doomed to become an expert on Roos cedar chests. After I answered the first inquiry about a Roos chest and posted the answer, I have received at least a hundred more inquiries about Roos cedar chests.
Before I go on and tell what I have learned about them, let me tell you what I don't know. I have no idea what a Roos cedar chest looks like from just the model number or serial number. I have probably received 50+ inquiries that just give a model number, serial number or both, and ask what their chest is worth. To the best of my knowledge, there is no publicly available reference that gives years of manufacture by model number or serial number. Neither is there any reference that would let me look up a photo of that model. So without a photo I can't tell anything. If you send a photo, I can narrow the time period down a little by style, and estimate a value.
After considerable searching, I learned several rather interesting facts.
The "Roos Manufacturing Co." of Chicago was established in 1871 by Edward Roos (born in Germany in December 1848), died in 1906. He had several children including Otto (born 1877) and Edward (born 1880). Otto took over the Roos Manufacturing Company when his father died in 1906. They did manufacture cedar chests, but it is unclear when they started. The business began making curtain rods and later wooden boxes. They used a rooster in several variations in some of their logos.
The "Ed Roos Company of Forest Park" started in Chicago as the Roos Cedar Chest Company in 1916, and also manufactured cedar chests, but it is a different company. They used a tree (presumably a cedar tree) in a circle as their logo. There are also other logos without the tree, and one with a heart for their "Sweetheart" chests. They also used a variety of paper and cardboard labels.
It was started by Otto's brother, Edward. The company moved to Forest Park, IL in 1918 and changed its name to the Ed Roos Company of Forest Park
In the 1920 federal census, Otto Roos is listed as President of a wooden wares business. So it is clear that the original Roos Manufacturing Company was still at work in 1920, after Ed Roos opened up shop in 1918 in Forest Park. I have found no information yet that says whether the original company continued to make cedar chests or not, although one of their marks does say "Original" as part of the mark. This would imply at least some overlap when both companies were making cedar chests.
There are at least two possible explanations for why Edward left to start his own company. First, Edward disagreed with Otto about the business and split off to start his own company. Second, they agreed that to expand the cedar chest business, it should be split off and moved. There are of course other possibilities that I haven't considered. I lean toward the first as the most likely.
