Graduation Gift Box Insert

Hi all! Two posts in one day...it's been awhile since that has happened! On the e-bay today there is a box for sale with the original cardboard insert still enclosed... As you can see, this is a later-era Short box probably from the 1980's or later but this is just a guess.  I haven't seen …

Cool carved box for Megan

Hi all! Recently a box collector named John came across this box at a thrift store and luckily he found this blog and shared the find with me. We will probably never know who the artist/carver LJK? is but it's nice to know the box is in the hands of someone that will preserve and …

Website update

Hi all! Just a quick note about the website dedicated to our Lane boxes. Back about a year and a half ago - around June of 2018 - I launched http://www.lanecedarbox.com.  I had no idea how to make a website but with the help of a friend and wix.com, we put together a pretty nice …

Last off the line – Update

Hi all! My friend, Virginia from Virginia sent me this clipping today describing the closing of the miniature department at the Lane factory in Altavista, VA.  The article says Lane announced "On Friday" the department would be closing.  As we all know, May 26, 1999 was a Wednesday so the announcement likely was talking about …

New Heart Key Found

Hi all, Real quick find... I found this key on ebay being offered with a Tall box. The bottom label tells us the box is probably from the late 1940's up to around 1956.  The box is very common and the lid logo is also very common for the era mentioned above. Given the heart …

Peterson Brothers Box – Age 1929

Hi all! As a reminder, my working theory is Peterson Brothers Mfg. in Chicago made boxes for Lane as part of the Girl Graduate Plan from roughly 1925 to 1935 along with Pilliod of Ohio.  I won't go into my rationale here; you can go back to my posts about Early Era boxes for more …

Why, Why, Why? Bottom number theory takes a big hit!

Hi all! As a reminder, I have been tracking the 3 and 4 digit numbers found on some Tall, Short Beveled (SB) and Short Rounded (SR) boxes.  If the numbers are read backwards, like the serial numbers on the full sized Lane chests, the numbers can be interpreted as dates.   If they are read forward, …

Just when I think I know…Class of 55 sticker!

Hi all! Just when I think I have a some slight grasp on the chronology and the age of our boxes, something comes along and makes me question my hypothesis. Chasing the boxes tonight I came across a very typical Short box that looks like this on the ebay store... Because it has this logo …

Boxes by the Numbers

Hi all! The possibility of the bottom number stamps described in my last couple of posts being date related has got me thinking about how many of each style of box was made. I'm not going to go into the math here because it's too boring and it's based on a whole bunch of guessing.  …

Bottom Numbers/Dates Added to Website

Hi all. Really quick one this time. Please check out my website HERE to see how I have added photos of bottom numbers to the discussion. Based on my research over the last several weeks I am pretty confident these numbers do, in fact, represent dates of manufacture - backwards. Until I see evidence to the …