craftslesson10 solomon

Back in the late thirties and early forties I partook of the usual B grade monster movies that were the common fare at the local cinema. Frankenstein met every other current monster face to face and poor Abbott and Costello were caught in the middle. Somewhere in the trivia trap I call my mind, I remember from one of these old films seeing a book taken down from a library shelf and it opened like a book but was in reality a box containing some magnificent secret. That single moment set the stage for my life long curiosity for boxes that looked like books. Ornate boxes were already a fetish for me when this happened and small tins were but another facet of this curious obsession I developed.

Over the years I have found in garage and yard sales and the trips to the flea market, a goodly number of these strange boxes. Some you may have seen in other portions of the Arts and Crafts section but I thought it might be nice to see the collection in one place. You see each box/book has its own peculiar characteristics and each has a personality of its own. Some I have modified with epoxy putty and imagination. Others are just as I found them and some called out to be taken home to be used for nefarious purposes in the grand scheme of Magick. Some have been refinished and lined with velveteen, others are left exactly as they were found.

With each of the pictures, which by the way are in sets of two, closed and opened, I will try to give a bit of information. Each box/book has been used to carry props for a particular presentation serving both to protect the prop and help establish the ever so important ambiance to set the mood for a particular story.

The lesson to learn is simple, if you spot a particularly nice or unusual box, buy it. You may not have a need for it right now but it's surprising how quick a use for it turns up when you own the box and have it on display.

In the Craft,
Ed Solomon +++ Collector of the weird, unusual and maker of messes.