What's in the box?

September 16, 2010 3:01 PM

My BF found this unusual wooden box at a Goodwill store in Lancaster, PA and we're trying to figure out what its special purpose is.

It's about 2' high and 1.5' wide, and has straps and a foam pad so it can be carried like a back-pack. The most intriguing feature is the false bottom, which starts around halfway down. It appears to be homemade.

The secret compartment seems too deep for sneaky smuggling purposes, but the false bottom/shelf has no obvious or easy way to lift out.

It doesn't seem to be recently made, I get the feeling that it's at least 20-30+ years old (but I've got nothing to base that on), it's in very good condition, very clean. The inside is VERY clean, while the outside (and bottom) does not appear to be stained or dirty. There are no markings or label residue. The foam and belts definitely have a worn look to them.

We'll look into all leads, thanks!

posted by Room 641-A to grab bag (18 answers total)

With the straps and back pad, it looks like a custom-built hard case to carry a scientific instrument into the field. Likely there was foam in there at some point.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 3:04 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was going to guess it was a homemade hunting pack. If you're bird hunting in rough terrain, you have to pack out your dead birds without them getting squashed. The construction would let you put one or more birds in the bottom half, then close the flap and stack the rest of your kit on top - without squashing the birds.

(You wouldn't want to put the birds on top, 'cause they'd bleed all over your ammo and stuff.)

Just totally pulling that out of my butt. My dad often went ptarmigan hunting when I was little, and occasionally fell on the birds resulting in a somewhat squashed dinner.
posted by ErikaB at 3:08 PM on September 16, 2010

My first thought was a salesman's case; you'd put the goods to sell in the main compartment, maybe some of the nicer stuff in the bottom compartment, along with a contraption to fold out as legs to put the case on top of as a sales surface. Generally, though, those open up like suitcases, and there's no hardware on the outside of this one that would attach to table supports. But maybe this was someone's attempt to DIY it on the cheap.
posted by phunniemee at 3:12 PM on September 16, 2010

What if it were on your back and you had food in the bottom section and a big chunk of ice in the top--maybe wrapped somehow--would it keep the food cool?
Guess where I pulled that image from?
But why not?
posted by fivesavagepalms at 3:13 PM on September 16, 2010

What do you mean when you say the false bottom (or more likely a shelf/divider) has no obvious way to lift out? Isn't that a little handle for you to grasp?

I'm thinking it could be a traveling desk. Maybe for watercolors, or writing. The divider would be useful for carrying smaller items, like jars for water, organized boxes of paint, etc.

The absence of stains might point in another direction, but there are many fastidious artists. Not all are constantly paint speckled. I can especially picture this being used by some kind of scientific/nature illustrator.

I love questions like these!
posted by fontophilic at 3:20 PM on September 16, 2010

It could be many things. My first thought was a case to carry mushrooms gathered in the woods (I have seen similar plywood boxes used in Russia), but a scientific equipment case is probably just as good of a guess.
posted by ssg at 3:23 PM on September 16, 2010

I'm pretty sure I've seen older paintings of artists carrying such packs when they're walking -- they can carry an easel upright in it.
posted by frobozz at 3:33 PM on September 16, 2010

My vote would be for a specimen box, but I would like to think it is also a prototype by or inspiration of this gentleman.
posted by notquitemaryann at 3:34 PM on September 16, 2010

Wow, so many different ideas! I'll see if I can start narrowing it down.

fontophilic, are you talking about the little wooden block? I assumed it was a stopper to prevent the shelf from falling, but maybe it was placed upside down by the last person who looked at it. (I haven't seen the box in person yet, but I'll ask him if that could be the case.)
posted by Room 641-A at 3:39 PM on September 16, 2010

I don't know about scientific equipment (though it certainly could be), but I agree with qxntpqbbbqxl that it's a home made hard case to carry... something... delicate.

What that something is is open to "what could I fit in this box," coupled with, "what might have accessories that could fit in the lower box."

Short of looking for traces in the bottom of whatever it might have carried, you're probably going to have to wildly speculate at some point.

I suggest telling people it used by bootleggers, because that could be a fun story to spin.
posted by quin at 3:47 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

Sorry, fontophilic, my mistake. I mis-observed the pictures. When he said it doesn't lift out he meant the shelf itself isn't removable. So it's more like a lid, I guess.
posted by Room 641-A at 3:49 PM on September 16, 2010

I have a friend who is a busker. Aside from the instrument idea, which is a good one, this looks like something a street artist would use to carry props for a show.
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 5:52 PM on September 16, 2010

Toolbox for an itinerant cabinet maker or other woodcrafter.
posted by Bruce H. at 7:15 PM on September 16, 2010

quin writes "I don't know about scientific equipment (though it certainly could be), but I agree with qxntpqbbbqxl that it's a home made hard case to carry... something... delicate. "

Or decidedly not delicate. My sister's lab gets rock samples in plywood boxes like this (sans straps). Anything poky is better carried in a hard sided cases than a flexible bag.

Could also be a pack for carrying food. Cans and bottles are both heavy and sort of uncomfortable to sling in a soft sided backpack. 50 years ago a plywood box was easier for the average handyman to build than an external frame pack.

However it looks a bit too clean to have carried game or ice.
posted by Mitheral at 9:32 PM on September 16, 2010

My first guess would have been a homemade bear-proof food case for hiking/camping. Of course, I can't see the lid to see if it would lock down tight enough.
posted by Foam Pants at 9:49 PM on September 16, 2010

The type of fasteners used would be a clue.
posted by llc at 11:09 PM on September 16, 2010

does it smell like honey? on the right in this image there's a box roughly half the size of yours.
posted by kimyo at 11:52 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think it looks like a traveling shoe shine kit. It lack the footrest, but I could easily picture some entrepreneur taking it downtown and offering shines on the corner.
posted by sambosambo at 2:51 AM on September 17, 2010