Wednesday, January 26, 2022 – Boxes (Containers)
- Mary Reed
- Jan 27, 2022
- 12 min read
The photo is of bankers boxes full of books. In the Addison Athletic Club there is a conference room with walls lined with bookshelves that also serves as a library. People donate books and can take one or more out with no time limit. The athletic club is being renovated, so book club members volunteered to move all the books out of the library. There were 52 boxes in all.
According to the February 13, 2020, article “Why do they call them Bankers Boxes?” at legal.thompsonreuters.com, in 1917 the Bankers Box Co. was formed after a chance elevator meeting between two entrepreneurs. One of the men, Walter Nickel, made cardboard boxes and sold them to banks for record storage. Nickel had just been called up to serve in World War I and was looking for someone to buy his business.
The other man in the elevator, Harry Fellowes, was intrigued by Nickel’s enterprise. The 16th Amendment — the one that legalized the income tax — had taken effect a few years earlier, and Fellowes knew that the tax would soon be expanded to pay for the war effort. If more people were snared by the income tax, he reasoned, more boxes would be needed to store all those tax records.
By the time the elevator doors opened, Fellowes had struck a deal to purchase Nickel’s box-making business for $50 or about $830 in today’s coin. The company went on to diversify into all kinds of office products, and in 1983 the Bankers Box Co. changed its name to Fellowes Manufacturing.
Bankers boxes are only one type of box. Let’s find out about all the others.
According to Wikipedia, a box is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Boxes can be very small like a matchbox or very large like a shipping box for furniture and can be used for a variety of purposes from functional to decorative.
Boxes may be made of a variety of materials, both durable, such as wood and metal; and non-durable, such as corrugated fiberboard and paperboard. Corrugated metal boxes are commonly used as shipping containers.
Most commonly, boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides, making them rectangular prisms; but boxes may also have other shapes.
Boxes may be closed and shut with flaps, doors or a separate lid. They can be secured shut with adhesives, tapes or more decorative or elaborately functional mechanisms, such as a catch, clasp or lock.
Packaging
Several types of boxes are used in packaging and storage.
Corrugated boxes. A corrugated box is a shipping container made from corrugated fiberboard, most commonly used to transport products from a warehouse during distribution. Corrugated boxes are also known as cartons, cases and cardboard boxes in various regions. Corrugated boxes are rated based on the strength of their material or their carrying capacity. Corrugated boxes are also used as product packaging or in point-of-sale displays.
Folding cartons — sometimes known as a box — are paperboard boxes manufactured with a folding lid. These are used to package a wide range of goods and can be used for either one-time, non-resealable usage or as a storage box for more permanent use. Folding cartons are first printed — if necessary — before being die-cut and scored to form a blank; these are then transported and stored flat, before being constructed at the point of use.
Gable boxes are paperboard cartons used for liquids.
Setup boxes — also known as rigid paperboard boxes — are made of stiff paperboard and are permanently glued together with paper skins that can be printed or colored. Unlike folding cartons, these are assembled at the point of manufacture and transported as already constructed or "set-up." Setup boxes are more expensive than folding boxes and are typically used for protecting high-value items such as cosmetics, watches or smaller consumer electronics.
Crates are heavy-duty shipping containers. Originally made of wood, crates are distinct from wooden boxes — also used as heavy-duty shipping containers — as a wooden container must have all six of its sides put in place to result in the rated strength of the container. The strength of a wooden box, on the other hand, is rated based on the weight it can carry before the top or opening is installed.
A wooden wine box or wine crate — originally used for shipping and storing expensive wines — is a variant of the wooden box now used for decorative or promotional purposes or as a storage box during shipping. Most wineries that use wooden boxes burn their logo and designs on the front panel. A typical wooden wine box holds either six or twelve 750 ml bottles.
Bulk boxes are large boxes often used in industrial environments, sized to fit on a pallet.
An ammunition box is a metal can or box for ammunition.
Depending on locale and usage, the terms carton and box are sometimes used interchangeably. The invention of large steel intermodal shipping containers has helped advance the globalization of commerce.
Storage
Boxes for storing various items in can often be very decorative, as they are intended for permanent use and sometimes are put on display in certain locations.
The following are some types of storage boxes:
Bible box. A Bible box is a box made to hold a Bible. These boxes started being manufactured in the 17th century.
Étui. An étui — from the French, for keeper or holder — is a woman's ornamental case, usually carried in a pocket or purse. It holds small tools for daily use such as folding scissors, bodkins, sewing needles (a needlecase), hairpins, tweezers, makeup pencils, etc. Some étuis were also used to carry doctors' lancets. These boxes were made of different materials such as wood, leather, ivory, silver, gold, tortoise shell, mother of pearl and shagreen. Fabergé created the Necessaire Egg as an étui containing a woman’s toilet items. While the exact appearance of the egg is not known, it is described in the 1917 inventory of confiscated imperial treasure as being decorated with "multicolored stones and brilliants, rubies, emeralds and sapphires.
File box is used in offices and homes for storing papers and smaller files.
Hat box — also commonly hatbox and sometimes hat bucket, hat tin or bandbox — is a container for storing and transporting headgear, protecting it from damage and dust. A more generic term for a box used to carry garments, including headgear, is a bandbox. Typically, a hat box is deep and round in shape, although it may also be boxlike and used as an item of luggage for transporting a variety of hats.
Hat boxes may be made of a range of materials, including cardboard, leather or metal. They may include straps or a carrying handle for transportation. More luxurious models may be padded and lined in materials such as silk in order to protect the headgear.
The hat box became a popular item in the 19th century — matching the popularity of hats for both day and evening wear — and accessories were produced to assist with both storage and cleaning. While milliners often packaged designs they sold in cardboard hat boxes, more robust designs were produced for travelling. Some designs were made to store more than one hat — including designs that could store both a daytime top hat and a collapsible version for evenings, known as a gibus. They might also include storage space for items such as a hat brush.
Designs became quite large during the Edwardian era. A letter to The Times in 1844 warned travelers that Blackwall Railway's porters had charged a penny to carry a hat box onto the train and a further 6 pennies for transporting it to the London terminus, with the traveler himself paying only 4 pennies for the journey. He recommended that travelers with luggage should go by steamboat.
While traditionally hat boxes are circular or square in shape, some versions may follow the shape of the hat. New York Historical Society archives include a crescent shaped cardboard design thought to be from the early to mid-19th century and attributed to the New York City hatmaker Elisha Bloomer; Canadian archives include a tin design curved to match the tricorn-style military hat worn by Isaac Brock and dating from 1812.
Humidor is a humidity-controlled box or room used primarily for storing cigars, cigarettes, cannabis or pipe tobacco. Either too much or too little humidity can be harmful to tobacco products; a humidor's primary function is to maintain a steady, desirable moisture level inside; secondarily, it protects its contents from physical damage and deterioration from sunlight. For private use, small wooden boxes holding a few dozen or fewer cigars are common, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors. Many humidors use hygrometers to monitor their humidity levels.
Another use for a humidor is controlling the moisture level in a baseball, which can have a pronounced effect on its response when hit with a baseball bat. This phenomenon was so great that in order to put an end to much controversy, in 2002, nine years after joining the league, the Colorado Rockies started storing their game balls in a large walk-in humidor at their home stadium, thus counteracting the effects of the low humidity due mainly to Denver's famous mile-high altitude of around 5,280 feet above sea level. After the change, various offensive and defensive statistics at Rockies home games — especially the number of home runs — were found to be more in line with the rest of the league. In 2018 the Arizona Diamondbacks, whose Phoenix home field is affected by the arid Sonoran Desert climate, became the second Major League Baseball team to use a humidor.
Jewelry box. Also known as a casket, a receptacle for trinkets or jewels. It can take a very modest form with paper covering and lining, covered in leather and lined with satin, or be larger and more highly decorated, reaching the monumental proportions of the jewel cabinets which were made for Marie Antoinette, one of which is at Windsor Castle and another at the Palace of Versailles; the work of Schwerdfeger as cabinetmaker, Degault as miniature-painter, and Thomire as chaser.
Knife box. In the Middle Ages people usually brought their own cutlery with them when eating away from home, and the more expensive types came with their own custom-made leather cases, stamped and embossed in various designs. Later, as cutlery became provided by the host, decorative cases — especially for the knives — were often left on display in the dining room. Some of the most elegant and often ornate were in the styles of Robert Adam, George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton. Occasionally flat-topped containers, they were most frequently either rod-shaped, or tall and narrow with a sloping top necessitated by a series of raised veins for exhibiting the handles of knives and the bowls of spoons. Mahogany and satinwoods were most common, occasionally inlaid with marquetry, or edged with boxwood which was resistant to chipping. These receptacles — often made in pairs — still exist in large numbers; they are often converted into stationery cabinets. Another version is an open tray or rack, usually with a handle, also for the storage of table cutlery.
Safe or strong box is a secure lockable box for storing money or other valuable items. The term "strong box" is sometimes used for safes that are not portable but installed in a wall or floor. Some have extremely elaborate locks, such as Sir Thomas Bodley's strong box in the Bodleian library, which has a locking mechanism in the underside of the lid.
Sewing box or work box. The most common type of decorative box is the feminine work box. It is usually fitted with a tray divided into many small compartments for needles, reels of silk and cotton and other necessaries for stitchery. The date of its origin is unclear, but 17th-century examples exist, covered with silk and adorned with beads and embroidery.
No lady would have been without her work box in the 18th century. In the second half of that century, elaborate pains were taken to make these boxes dainty and elegant.
Work boxes are ordinarily portable, but at times they form the top of a stationary table.
Snuff box. One of the more functional types of decorative boxes is the snuff box. While snuff does not enjoy the popularity it once did, it is gradually regaining popularity due to the declining popularity and increased restriction of smoking, and snuff boxes are still made in significant numbers.
Snuff boxes are made in two sizes — pocket boxes and communal boxes made for table use. Pocket boxes are usually made to hold a small amount of snuff for immediate consumption, typically a day or two's supply. Since prolonged exposure to air causes snuff to dry out and compromises its quality, snuff boxes have tightly sealed lids to ensure that air does not penetrate the box, although wholly airtight boxes are a rarity. Table boxes can still be found in the mess of certain old regiments – often in the traditional “ram's head” style – and a communal snuff box is kept in the House of Commons in the UK parliament.
People of all social classes used these boxes when snuff was at its peak of popularity, and the wealthy carried a variety of fancy snuffboxes created by craftsmen in metalwork, jewelers and enamelers. Some of these were elaborately made and decorated, rich in detail and made from precious or expensive materials such as gold, silver and ivory and were often adorned with artwork, gems and precious stones. Boxes made for the poorer snuff taker were more ordinary; popular and cheap boxes were made in papier-mâché and even potato-pulp, which made durable boxes that kept the snuff in good condition. Alloys that resembled gold or silver were developed in the 18th and 19th centuries such as the ersatz gold Pinchbeck and the silver look-alike Sheffield Plate.
Other popular materials used in making these boxes include:
- Tortoise-shell, a favorite material owing to its satin luster.
- Mother-of-pearl, which was kept in its natural iridescent state, or gilded or used together
with silver.
- Exotic materials such as cowrie shells, enriched with enamels or set with diamonds or other
precious stones.
The lids were often adorned with a portrait, a classical vignette, portrait miniature, hardstone inlays or micromosaic panel. Some of the most expensive just used subtly different colors of gold. Perhaps the most widely used semiprecious metal was silver, and snuffs of all shapes and sizes were made in that metal during snuff's great popularity.
Even after snuff-taking ceased to be a general habit, the practice lingered among diplomats, doctors, lawyers and other professionals — as well as members of professions where smoking was not possible, such as miners and printworkers. Snuff still has a considerable following, particularly among ex-smokers. Monarchs retained the habit of bestowing snuffboxes upon ambassadors and other intermediaries as a form of honor. As Talleyrand explained, the diplomatic corps found a ceremonious pinch to be a useful aid to reflection in a business interview. At the coronation of George IV of the United Kingdom, Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, the court jewelers, were paid £8,205 for snuffboxes for gifts to foreign representatives.
Today snuffboxes are collected at many levels — the high-end of the market being reserved for gold boxes that have been jeweled or have original artwork on them, or boxes with provenance linking them to world figures, such as Napoleon or Lord Nelson. Some of the most expensive are French and German 18th century examples, and the record auction price for a German box is about $1.3 million, bid in 2003 at Christie's in London.
Modern snuffboxes are made from a variety of woods, pewter and even plastic and are manufactured in surprising numbers due, largely, to snuff's resurgence among tobacco connoisseurs and ex-smokers.
Toolbox is used for carrying tools of various kinds. They are usually used for portability rather than just storage.
Small portable toolboxes are sometimes called hand boxes or portable tool storage. Most portable toolboxes have one handle on top and a lid that opens on a hinge. Many have a removable tote tray that sits on a flange inside the lip of the box, with a single larger compartment below. The tote tray helps organize smaller parts and accessories. Portable toolboxes sometimes use slide-out trays or cantilever trays in lieu of the removable tote tray. Metal toolboxes — typically steel — weigh more than plastic ones. A plastic toolbox laden with tools can weigh the same as a comparable steel box does when empty. Metal boxes are also subject to rusting, and their sharp edges can mark the surfaces of things they are banged against. Metal is, however, known for being stronger than plastic, so one should balance its disadvantages against the need to withstand abuse and support the weight of many tools.
Portable chests are a type of tool storage that is small enough to carry but has drawers to organize contents. Portable chests have a handle on top for portability and a top lid that opens on hinges. Portable chests typically have 3-4 drawers. Most are made from metal, but some have a plastic shell with metal drawers in order to help lighten the piece.
A toolbox can also refer to a large tool storage system, or tool chest combos, that includes multiple pieces. These systems are almost always made from metal. Most tool storage systems are painted steel, but some are stainless steel and aluminum. They include a top chest that has drawers and a top lid that opens on a hinge. The top chest is designed to sit on a cabinet, also called a rolling cabinet or rollaway. The cabinet sits on four or more casters and has drawers to organize tools. Other pieces can be added to the system or combo. A middle chest, also called an intermediate chest, can be placed between the top chest and cabinet for extra storage. A side cabinet with more drawers can be hung from the side of a cabinet. A side locker can also be hung from the side of a cabinet; usually with a door that protects shelves or small drawers.
Toolcarts — also known as rollcabs — are commonly used in the transportation industry for maintenance and repair of vehicles on location. Used as portable workstations, some of the larger types are self-powered and -propelled, for example, pit carts in automobile racing.
After several decades of decline in popularity, today a resurgence in use is underway. Viewed by many as intended primarily for specialized craftsmanship, such as machinists, tool and die makers, jewelers and other specialized craftsmen, they are also sought after by average tradesman and collectors as working heirloom. Many toolboxes and chests from a variety of trades can be seen at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
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