Monday Memory: The Packing Box

Photo by Midge Frazel, December, 2016

The Packing Box

For as long as I can remember, this box has held our tree ornaments. I realized when we moved here that this is not just a container; it is family history. We cut the leather straps, that held it shut, and replaced them with two bungie cords. That's as modern as it is going to get. I have lined it with clean paper and thrown out all the broken bits of glass in the bottom. 

I think that this box, and the 27 others that must have been before it, were the boxes that were filled with the paper covered clean laundry and shirt boxes and placed in the Victor Cleansing Company trucks to be delivered to customers. My mother worked in the shipping room and showed me the area where the dirty clothes came in and the clean clothes moved out. This would have fit in the "cubbyholes" that were built in the early 1950s when the addition was built for a storefront at the plant.

My dad's job title was head shipper in the 1949 Cranston City Directory. He's standing here in a section of Roger William Park with Mr. James Aitken. Jim gave me the BEST Christmas presents (books) when he came to my grandparents house to visit with my sick grandfather. He is my father's relative (1st cousin 1x removed) but they didn't know that at the time. My grandfather probably took this photo. 

undated Kodachrome slide in the collection of Midge Frazel

My dad looked great in a uniform, didn't he? He traded in his Army uniform for this one. Hard working, handsome and full of personality, Dad must have saved this packing crate for himself. I remember it being in the basement of my grandparent's home. For me, it is a symbol of Christmas.