I looked up HC Hansen and J Roberts and it appears both of them were suppliers of staple goods in the late 1800's. Not sure why the builder would not have sanded the stencils off in the finishing process.
I've been thinking bout those thar stencils and have decided that …..
they are the “
from” & "
to” shipping addresses. Either Hansen shipped it to Roberts or vice versa.
In da old days, such goods were shipped by horse & wagon, by barge or boat or by train.
And you shipped them in
parts n’ pieces because they had to be “man-handled”.
No forklifts to help, ….. and no cardboard boxes, styrofoam or bubble-wrap for packing.
You shipped them “as is” or you put them in a wooden crate of some kind and stenciled the addresses on the crate.
And in the case of that hutch/cabinet, …… guess what
got stenciled?
