I once did some environmental work for a packaging company that made thousands of cardboard boxes. However I don't have a single photo of work that would match our fine photo prompt for this week.
"The Bobbsey twins were very busy that morning. They were all seated around the dining-room table, making houses and furnishing them. The houses were being made out of pasteboard shoe boxes, and had square holes cut in them for doors, and other long holes for windows, and had pasteboard chairs and tables, and bits of dress goods for carpets and rugs, and bits of tissue paper stuck up to the windows for lace curtains. Three of the houses were long and low, but Bert had placed his box on one end and divided it into five stories, and Flossie said it looked exactly like a 'department' house in New York.
There were four of the twins. Now that sounds funny, doesn't it? But, you see, there were two sets. Bert and Nan, age eight, and Freddie and Flossie, age four."
How many of you, I wonder, keep your old photographs in a shoe box? Well here's one of a series of hindred-year-old photographs of the British Raj discovered in a shoe box in India.
So I had to look elsewhere for inspiration, Simon the cat was not a good idea
Finally I settled for ladies making ammunition boxes instead, courtesy of the State Library of Australia.
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| Young woman making ammunition boxes at a small press - 1943 (By Smith, D Dorian - CC BY 2.0) |
If that press is not large enough for you here's one operated not by one lady, but two.
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| Making ammunition boxes with a large press - 1943 |
(By Smith, D Dorian - CC BY 2.0)
I can't tell you the names of those two ladies but then I came across "Bobbsey Twins: Merry Days Indoors and Out" by Laura Lee Hope.
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| (By Carla Pettigrew Hufstedler - CC BY 2.0) |
"The Bobbsey twins were very busy that morning. They were all seated around the dining-room table, making houses and furnishing them. The houses were being made out of pasteboard shoe boxes, and had square holes cut in them for doors, and other long holes for windows, and had pasteboard chairs and tables, and bits of dress goods for carpets and rugs, and bits of tissue paper stuck up to the windows for lace curtains. Three of the houses were long and low, but Bert had placed his box on one end and divided it into five stories, and Flossie said it looked exactly like a 'department' house in New York.
There were four of the twins. Now that sounds funny, doesn't it? But, you see, there were two sets. Bert and Nan, age eight, and Freddie and Flossie, age four."
How many of you, I wonder, keep your old photographs in a shoe box? Well here's one of a series of hindred-year-old photographs of the British Raj discovered in a shoe box in India.
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| Princep Ghat. Kolkata - 1900s (unknown author) |
If you are to keep old photos like that you need storage space. What could be better than a cardboard box. Here's a demonstration in how to put one together that should be big enough for anyone.
Now all you need is the room to keep them in!
For more educational photos, perhaps even from a Box Brownie, box clever and visit Sepia-saturday-166.
22 comments:
So many memories. Used to make those boxes with my classes, then used these skills for art and craft creations. And you included Simon's cat, lovely!
That is some machine for making boxes, I was born in 43, I now sometime feel as if I was punched out.
Wonderful things shoeboxes, ideal for photos, post cards, various bits of ephemera, and of course, tall-tales and stories.
Nicely put together Bob, and I've always had a soft spot for Simon's Cat.
The cat video is hilarious and very typical of cats. If you have cats, you have to be careful about what you leave lying around (or anywhere they can get at it).
Had a job as a student packing packets of seeds for sending out to shops and individuals. A friend and I were put to making the boxes needed to pack the shop orders. Hardest part was judging the size of the box required for the items ordered but we became pretty good at it over the three weeks we were there.
Young children enjoy playing with empty boxes in much the way shown on the Simon's Cat film, too.
Ann
The ammunition box factory looks like a rather scary place to work.
I'm a fan of Simon's cat too! Also, if only some of the younger ones out here working today knew just what kinds of jobs were back in the day, like your hard working women show here, then they would know what hard work was! Wow!
Good point about keeping old photos in cardboard storage boxes, but it's also important to note that the boxes should be made from archival quality acid-free card, or you run the risk of damaging both the paper and the photographic emulsions.
Hate making boxes, loved Simon's cat though.
JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE
Those are super women! I forgot to read 'boxes' after ammunition.
Simon's cat looks like a busy owl. I rather like the clip.
This week I received a package in the mail. It was the size of a boot box and contained only a small cabinet photograph I had bought on eBay. Carefully packed but extreme overkill for the item. Cardboard is a recent material for boxes. In olden days, shipping was in wooden crates, often crudely nailed together with "box nails". That kind of packaging ephemera is very rare to find today.
I like Simon, so playful! What a job for girls; it was always said working for the war effort; to make it sound sweet? Dollar and Cent has amazing nesting boxes, one wants to keep everything in these boxes and they cost a dollar and a cent.
YouTube usually comes up with the goods but I personally don't know anyone who has uploaded a video! (That I know of.)
There is something immensely satisfying a box : the way it takes disorganisation and converts it into organisation. And, as usual, there is something very satisfying about you post as well.
The giant machinery in the second photo makes it look like they have miniaturised women working on those boxes. Many treasures are kept in shoe-boxes, the India ones sound quite a find.
Nice to see The Bobbsey Twins busily creating a box city. My kids once made a box creation to house their collection of troll dolls - but it also included boxy styrofoam packaging.
Those photographs of 1943 shows how well they take care of the safety aspect, well tucked aprons and all.
The ghat picture of 1900 can be the same scene now, maybe if the steamer was not there.
It's funny how many uses you can find for a cardboard box. As a child they were always more fun than many of our toys.
The size of those machines is overwhelming just imagine how much noise they made. I love the round and oval boxes to trim and paint for little gifts. Great photos.
QMM
Thanks for a really interesting post. Loved all the different bits you included.
Oh Bob! Looking At Photos Of Women Working Is Very Soothing!:)
I keep my stuff in a plastic carrier with folders inside, and having two cats, it seems like a sensible decision, for managing my pics and postcards and stamps, and for safe keeping. Simon is one of my faves!!! And a bad example for my two... Bringing in boxes and bags in this place is always a cause for celebration for them, and a mess to clean up for me later on...
:D~
HUGZ
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