All, thanks for all the helpful input. I'm glad that in the process of getting my questions answered, others have gotten ideas. Remember, people, I only bought the bench and the red plow, I have a white milk can in the garage, tumbled morning glories over it last year. I just posted the other photo so you could see how pretty she had part of her yard. The lady with the sale is the one with the talent for putting stuff together like that, she painted it all up, I hated to see her have to take down that pretty display and part with some of the pieces. And I'm not such a good friend as some of you think because we had had a falling out last year, and I hadn't been speaking to her, but when she so obviously was stressed out to the max and needed the help, decided let bygones be bygones. I wish I could help more people, but I can't or I won't get anything done for myself plus I don't have that much stamina and have to pace myself just on my own projects. I do what I can when I can for people, mostly little helps here and there. OK, $15 sounds like a fair price if she will accept that. I won't be too fussy about the rust, and if something goes wrong with that deal, I can't have everything that catches my fancy.

In civilian life the style of letter font may prove to be some indication of age, but for government applications that would not always hold true. The government is very careful to insure that they do not endorse any manufacturers product to the exclusion of another, therefore they write the specifications to include not only the overall design and type of materials used to construct the product, but the also include the type of finish, whether it is to be painted, varnished, or plain metal. In turn, once the government creates the specifications they put it out to bid to civilian manufacturers with the understanding that the product must conform solely to the government specs. In most cases the the only identifying marks allowed would be a tag which has the Milspec number or the Federal Stock Number and the nomenclature of the item. In some instances the specifications are so complete that they would define exactly what information could be put on the tag, I.E. FSN (Federal Stock Number) and Nomenclature and it may state specifically the size of tag, type of material the tag is to be made of, such as a metal tag, lettering stenciled or printed on the item, size of the lettering, type font for the lettering and the exact position where the tag is to be placed. In the case of an item such as the hand truck in question, the original specifications may have been written back during the civil war, but given that it is of such a good design, requiring no modifications, a manufacturer may be obligated to produce it today to the same specs. To give you some idea of how critical the government is on specifications, once while stationed on a B-52 bomber base I was assigned duty as the receiving inspector for the munitions unit. We received two railroad car loads of belted 50cal. machine gun ammunition which was to packed in metal canisters, two to a pack in wooden crates, and labeling on the crates was to be stenciled black paint. When we inspected the shipment, the ammunition was correct, packed in the metal canisters two to a crate as specified but, the crates were stenciled with blue paint instead of black paint. We held the shipment for ten days pending a ruling and were told we had to ship it back to the manufacture for repacking. The assumption was that if they fudged on one spec, they may have fudged on others so the product did not meet government specs.

I have an ironing board built into my cabinet surround in my new laundry set up that I had installed in my new bathroom remodel this past year. It was a total remodel and I spent lots of time planning. I "general contracted" the job, I did the layout to the room, the cabinet layout and specs, painting, and tiling. I wanted an ironing board too. I could not fit a wall mounted board, so I found a drawer type and it has worked very well for me. Hafele and Rev-a-Shelf make them. I spec'd Hafele and ended up with Rev-a-Shelf because my cabinet person, who ordered the setup I had planned, got it wrong. She got several things wrong, but thats another story. I still have the option for a change out, but I haven't found the need, other than to prove my consumer point. Sometimes I just don't want to press my luck :) I will bombard you with pictures, lol. Note that I have LED lighting with infrared on/off switch activated by the door, and an outlet for my iron. I have to have the door open before I pull out my board because it rises up and prevents the door from opening. Only a minor inconvenience. Access to mechanicals: Bottom shelf of the mid cabinet with a false back that I had put in so I could break down the unit for cleaning and emergency water shut off. My power to the w/d is on the back wall below the bottom open shelving where I have my towels and a woven gray basket, seen in the first picture above. The upper cabinet can be removed to access the plumbing for the shower that is on the other side of the partial wall on the right. I planned this access and ended up using it right away cause the plumber got the rough-in Hansgrohe i-Box plumbed wrong for the shower head I used :/ I love my set up for the ironing board. I would have used a wall one if I had the wall space available, just because that was what I thought was available. When I went looking I found this unit and have been very pleased. Regarding the flooring, I have tile in this room, and hardwood just to the outside in my hall. I didn't want wood in the bathroom, because I was worried about too many leak potentials.

Caryn, I would agree with Luvs....find out first instead of regret later. You might also try taking a really good picture of the board and the label and sending it via email to any antique shop that has an online address or just take the photo to any antique shops in your area. Couldn't hurt. Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall seeing a really great idea of how to use the ironing board without doing any damage to it, I will keep it in my mind and hope it click soon. Have you just tried googling antique ironing boards, if you do the visual or pictures, you should come up with lots of pictures. Belle