The Box
 

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The box is made from plywood and is 13 deep 24 wide and 22 tall and HEAVY. The top of the doors are shaped to fit in the lid lip. There are neat little stops here and there - well strategic places. There are little shelves at the top. There is a drawer across the bottom. It recesses so the little drawer pulls don't interfere with the doors when they are shut. The top latches don't work - probably because a hinge is missing screws. The bottom doesn't latch well probably for the same reason. Who ever made it thought it out really well. It had some kind of paper glued to the front of it some time. I half way wonder whether to refinish it or to glue on more paper. I wonder what paper was glued to that box. The ad said it was a sewing box. There IS room enough for a machine but DH says you sure wouldn't want to LIFT it. Well, boxes don't come along around here every day so I went to Dayton after the box. (Thank God for GPS) Crazy me. I took 2 grand kids along. Wilbur's birthday is today so we stopped at the Air Force Museum on our way home. Wilbur now owns it. (Well he thinks he does.) For sure he wants to go back with my Dad who flew on some of those old airplanes. Of course Wilbur is never speechless... Miss L was whiny - she might have been happier if it was a sewing machine museum. I wish they would match up old sewing machines with some of those airplanes. After all sewing machines WERE used to make a lot of that stuff in there on display. If you are in a parachute wearing one of those leather bomber jackets you should be thankful for a sewing machine.... SSOOO what do I do with the box??? :D:D:D Maybe someone knows what the box was used for. SUGGESTIONS welcome of course.

another picture or two:
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Cool box Miriam!

Nice find! Loved your story about the grandson. That sure looks like a custom storage box for someone's sewing machine. I'm sorry I don't have any advice on recovering the outside of the box, but whatever you decide, be sure to show us!

I was wondering if you were going to get it. Did the prior owner have any history on it at all? It could have been for sewing, It could have been a custom box for some sort of measuring instrument or something along those lines too.
It's a neat box and a clever design anyway.
Rodney

That is "some box" and I loved your story. Are you writing a memoir? Or keeping a journal? You have a way with words.

Always like to read about your adventures with Wilbur. That is a fascinating box and someone spent a lot of time thinking out the design and making it. Regarding silk parachutes, a LOT of wedding dresses were made from old parachute silk, especially after WWII.

Do you have a side view? It's puzzling to me. I've studied it for a (relatively) long time and keep thinking that there would be a gap if you close the lid, i.e. drop it 90 degrees.....

That is a wonderful box Miriam and it has lots of possibilities. I am sure you will find a good use for it. It looks like one of those boxes made for a chainstitcher like a Wilcox and Gibbs.
Skip

My father had a box he made somewhat like that for his model airplane hobby. He always needed to take sprays and oils, spare motor or props, starter fluid etc. I've also seen large boxes for sale like that for the Dog Show hobby to take brushes, combs, hair ties, cleanup items, leashes and whatnot. It's a cool box.

What a great story - you should suggest adding sewing machines to the museum because you are right about them being a big part of the war effort. Even just photos of how parachutes and other equipment was made would be great. Perhaps they would say, if you find these artifacts, they will be happy to display them. It maybe would be a good guild project?

That is very cool. It looks to me like a home made version of the fancy train cases and specialty storage cases of today. It would go wonderfully with some of the fancy home made sewing boxes and stands from the 30s and 40s. My grandfather and my aunts FIL worked in plywood mills back then and some of the things they built out of plywood scraps were awesome. I have a few items they built and they are precious to me.

Cari

It was advertised as a sewing box and there are loose buttons in it - the guy was a man of VERY few words... I had visions of the box being much smaller, too. When Wilbur and I picked it up it weighed a TON so the guy carried it to my car - I think it might hold a couple Featherweight machines or Maybe Glenn is right a Wilcox and Gibbs machine. I don't know why but I had to have it. Maybe it is a sewing machine trap... If I set it on the porch do you think a Wilcox and Gibbs might step into it??? What do I need for bait??? I was thinking it might make a very cool tool box. It might make a cool display/storage for attachments, too.

No gap on the top of it - it is two pieces of plywood glued and staggered - VERY well thought out. I shot a couple more pics of the plywood maybe you can get some idea how they did it. Here is a pic of the center front of the lid. 3 layers of plywood - it keeps the doors in a firm position when it is shut. You would not dare shut those doors if the lid is down.
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And maybe you can see how the doors are two layers of plywood to fit in that stepped lid
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never mind that broken hinge - we'll get to that soon...

As far as a side view. The box lid is cut in a notch. Very well thought out.
Box is open so you can see how it is cut out.
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I would have put a heavier hinge on it from the get go... especially with the shelves on the doors.

I'll try again to get the picture to come up...
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You can see the door and sides are stepped - the top of the box fits down over that.

Thank you, miriam, for posting the side view - mystery solved :-) --- cool box!

Give it to a friend, relative or neighbor that can use it? Sometimes it's more fun giving something away than it is to have it cluttering up the house. I guess this includes sewing machines of little resale value also.

Jon

my Father was a builder and would use a tool to get the "grade" correct on a lot before he would build a house. He had a box very similar to this one that he made to carry that tool in. wish I could remember the name of it, but the box looks very much like his.

surveyor? transit level? Here are antiques on ebay but the boxes are shaped different and are padded or the piece has a way of being secured. Years ago we built a house. We borrowed a friend and his equipment - he wouldn't let anybody touch his stuff... LOL He was retired from working on the express ways. He was a supervisor in Ohio - he had one to double and triple check the work. Back in the day you couldn't touch one for what they go on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tele...item35df74381c similar for sure but some how I'm thinking that is not this box. I haven't seen one with the tray around the top or a drawer in the bottom. It may have had some piece of equipment originally. Even more fascinating isn't it?

I forgot to mention - when we were driving to pick up the box the GPS (Matilda) thought we already got the box and was taking us through parts of Dayton better left alone.... Wilbur and Miss L. LOVED it - in parts of Dayton someone has made the most amazing murals on sides of buildings and in big old windows. It is almost worth getting lost - I'm not sure I could ever find that area again but it really was very cool.

I figured out it was vintage masking tape all over the front of the cabinet. It was work but I got it off. It still has some residue and some paint spatters. It is waiting on some paint thinner to go over it again.

I got the box cleaned up and DH fixed the hinges. Sweet. I still need to load it up - I need it for organizing.