Antiques — Making the Box Part of the Gift

Before we unwrap this week’s column on boxes, I want to tell you about a wonderful opportunity for you to have of your things appraised this coming weekend.
For two days, Nov. 3 and 4, from 11a.m. until 3p.m., I will be appraising items brought in by the public at The Marketplace@ Teaberry on Route 9 in Clermont. Call 609-624-1700 for additional information.
Come both days; have breakfast and stay for lunch at the yummy Avalon Coffee bistro on premises. Don’t miss this chance to find out about your things and get you antique shop Christmas shopping started along Route 9’s “Antique Alley.”
And speaking of Christmas:
“This is my box. This is my box. I never travel without my box.”
Those lines are sung by one of the Christmas Magi in Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1951 made for TV opera, “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” The curious boy, Amahl, has not been able to take his eyes off the mysterious box, so the wise man finally relents. Amahl sits in wide-eyed wonder as each compartment of the box is opened.
A child and a box is a wonderful image for Christmas, but interesting boxes can bring out the wide-eyed child in all of us at any time of year. That’s why so many people collect boxes, and why wonderful boxes have always been stock-in-trade for antique shops everywhere.
The wide variety of boxes available make it possible for collectors to personalize their collection by choosing just one type, style or material, or a range of different utility boxes. Just as wide is the range of prices for boxes, depending on the value of the material and the amount and quality of the craftsmanship.
This year, why not consider making the box a part of each of your gifts this holiday season. This is an especially good idea with gifts of money or perishable items, so the special box can remain as a keepsake long after its contents have been all used up.
Gentlemen’s dresser boxes and ladies’s vanity boxes are an ideal size for giving jewelry. Commercial storage and shipping boxes with interesting logo art will package clothing nicely, and afterwards do duty as storage containers slipped under the bed or on to a closet shelf.
Antique and vintage document boxes, writing boxes, military munitions boxes, sewing boxes come in handy and display well on in the bedroom office or den, and the same is true for colorful commercial tin boxes on the kitchen.
We have only skimmed the surface of the old boxes that are available. They are everywhere in the antique shops, if you just stop to notice them. And if you’re having trouble coming up with the right gift for a person. Look for the box first. It might just inspire you what to put in it.
See you at Teaberry this weekend.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions and appraisal requests to: aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.