Is that an old wood tool box?
You said he dragged it around the oil fields.
What was the old gentleman,s occupation?
I really like those old things. I was blessed to be tasked with restoring an old desk. I found some cleverly hidden drawers that contained WWII correspondence and and some old stamps. The stamp drawer had a hidden latch that I found while cleaning the underside of the desk top.
I'll give Homer Formby's Lemon Oil Treatment a big thumbs up, by the way.

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I'm a big fan of the courtesy flush.