A Good Box (One That's Not Evil)

Anyone know what this is?

It's a laundry box.  When we helped my Grandma move out of her sizeable house into an apartment (oh, a long time ago) -- or maybe before then -- we found a few of these boxes.   (If I recall correctly, one contained high school memorabilia from one of my uncles.)

What are they?   I'll let the National Postal Museum tell us:

"Laundry Box

Back to school supplies included laundry mailing boxes for many college-bound students in the early twentieth century. The reusable mailing containers provided a convenient way to deal with a time-consuming cleaning job. Using the mail also saved on cost because shipping grubby clothes home to mother could be cheaper than a professional cleaner. From the 1910s into the 1960s, mailing laundry was an attractive option for anyone without the time, means, or resources to do the chore themselves. It suited undergraduates, summer campers, military personnel, and others.

Types of containers varied, but they all needed to be made of durable materials; able to withstand repeated opening, closing, and sealing; and be of a manageable size. The metal version in the National Postal Museum collection meets those criteria. The light-weight box measures 6 ½ inches deep by 19 ¾ inches long and 12 ¼ inches wide. Ready for multiple trips, the mailing label and postage could be slipped into a small frame on the lid, which itself could be secured and released from the box many times with the buckle and strapping."

Yes, a mother's time was a cheap commodity back then.

This came to mind last year -- and then again recently -- when I was about to confess to "S" that there's one box that I haven't 86'd.

It's a box she used to send me 15 or 20 copies of a book a couple years back.   It was brand new back then, and a very good box -- the kind that closes without tape because the flaps tuck cunningly into open spots.   It can also be flattened out.

It's a Good Box.

Rather than schlepping things onto airplanes,  I've used this box 5-6 times, maybe more, shipping things to and from Chicago and Minnesota on trips when I'm staying a while.   The fact that I've re-used this box so many times reminded me of the aluminum laundry boxes we found at my Grandma's.

Wouldn't reusable boxes like this be a good thing to resurrect on "green" grounds?   For now, when I need to avoid checking baggage, I'll keep using the box that "S" sent me.   It's actually about the size of a laundry box.

(And as for the laundry boxes from Grandma's? I'll bet they're in the attic and Mom & Dad's.)

photo:  from the National Postal Museum website.