Back in January, I wrote two posts detailing my collar box conversion project. At the time of publishing the second post, I hadn't tested the box away from home. It came away for a short stay soon after I finished it's revamp - and then during our Big Loop road-trip throughout February/March.
Happy to report there is very little movement of my brooches during transit and I like the box so much, I've been using it at home, also.
Much of our time from June to September was spent house hunting and moving. As stress relief, I'd look at Facebook marketplace. Although I wasn't really intending to buy anything, in August I found a smaller collar box - for $10!
From my research, it seems this second box may have been used for a lady's collars. I was able to look at old advertisements for Potters, a jewellery store operating in Newcastle from 1886 to 1950.
The process of cleaning the smaller collar box was much the same as I usually do. Some cleaning with saddle soap, followed by a few applications of a leather conditioner.
The strap was broken, so I removed it but kept the buckle as I liked how that detail. There's room for four brooches inside this box and I used a silk scarf to hold them in place. (I might cut a circle of non-slip mat to try next trip - but there's no rush).
We stayed close to Newcastle on our most recent trip, so I took the collar box with me for a photo of where it would have originally come from - all those years ago. Funny that at one stage of my life, I would have regularly walked past this building on my lunch breaks!
The historic image is from 1891 and was scanned from a glass negative.
I'm standing on the other side of the building in the shot above, close to the original entry.
"Image created by Ralph Snowball, held by the University of Newcastle Library's Special Collections"
