Dory Fleshman

In some instances one word can lead to another, and, in this instance, the word was cupboard.

And the words it led to are apple box.

If that seems too farfetched to have a connection, my August 2 diary mentioned traveling cupboards that moved with the mover when changing one house for another residence.

Alert readers reminded me that there was another step backwards into the past that I had failed to mention.

And, those words were apple box, which at one time, had the same usage.

A few well-placed nails in the back of a box held sidewise against a wall was instant cupboards for one’s supplies. Certainly the nails going in or coming out or just pushed against the wall at floor height would be a quicker boost to moving day, for the supplies would travel in their own box, reducing the need and bulk for further travel storage boxes. Even easier would be to stack the boxes one on top of the other and load down with goods so that the whole “cupboard” didn’t topple over. Either way could eliminate unloading and reloading the boxes, for they could travel just that way.

Homes and apartment dwellers found clever uses for the plain item of a wooden box converted into a cupboard, one with wooden doors, the other possibly with a material cover for food and clothing or open to reveal books, radios, and such.

There possibly was never a hunting or vacation cabin in the woods or even outdoor camping that didn’t have wooden boxes containing needed supplies, lidded perhaps, and covered with tarps, strapped to the backs of pack animals when headed into the hills.

Likewise, a filled box carried short in-arm distances from house to mover truck or reverse could be managed quickly for easy access to supplies.

Thus, it was convenience and expense, not looks, that hid one’s household belongings from public view; however, clever wives could use lengths of material to disguise the contents with a curtain.

And, if or when necessary or desired, the yardage could be converted into a neat housedress further disguised by an apron for further duty.

But, back to the apple box.

We had moved into a house that had a big barn filled with apple boxes. Some were regular but some had inserts in the middle that gave them division for goods.

In the fall season, the boxes were removed from the barn and put to duty in selling apples and pears, trucking them off to market.

There were a few boxes left in the barn, so I stacked them just so for a dollhouse, using sawed-off blocks of wood for furniture and scraps of material from the rag bag for tablecloths, curtains, and bedspreads.

With my little china dolls and use of imagination, I couldn’t have been happier at play.

Yes, one word can lead to another word — one thought to another thought, a gift to be offered others.

Play it forward.