Some People Just Love Boxes

By Ann Wright

Watching everyone open their boxes containing Christmas gifts this past weekend, I got to thinking about how some people just love boxes, not necessarily for what’s in them, but just boxes!

Boxes are marvelous creations. A box can hold anything, be most any shape and be really huge or extremely tiny. Some people, like my daughter, collect boxes. We all search all year at various antique stores, yard sales and flea markets for some special box that is sure to be a nice addition to her ever growing collection. I have to admit that some of her boxes are things that I covet as well. She has some real beauties.

My brother-in-law, I discovered, also collects boxes. He is a woodworker and his collection is all wooden boxes that are nothing short of works of art. I was fascinated as he pulled out crate after crate and then started rolling out under–the-bed plastic boxes that were full of even more small boxes. He had many that were colored woods in various patterns, but most were fairly plain except you could see his delight as he would explain the workmanship and the degree of skill it took to make certain parts or designs on the various boxes.

I would guess that little kids must have the right idea when often they would rather play in the box or with the box, instead of the toy that was contained within. My nephew even took that one step further. His grandfather made him a handcrafted toy box to store his toys in, but the most fun he had was when he emptied it of all the toys and imagined it as a fort, a boat, a tank and whatever else he needed it to be.

Maybe these kids that play with their toy boxes will be the future box collector who finds great passion in sharing their stories of how they found each new addition and show others the fine points that many would miss. In this day of machine made nearly everything, finding people who admire real craftsmanship is awe inspiring.

Now I have my eyes on a Chinese red box that would make a beautiful jewelry box, but that is the expected use. I plan to use it in the kitchen, not quite sure if anything will be stored in it, but the color matches my décor and it is such a great conversation piece. I know one thing for sure, I don’t want it packed away in a crate or stored under a bed, and I want to look at it every day. Now I just need to convince my husband that that pretty red box would be the perfect gift for our upcoming anniversary, or maybe a nice Valentine’s gift – after all it’s red and Valentine is much closer than our anniversary. Too bad I didn’t find this great box before Christmas.