Then and Now: West Main Street’s past booming box factory

We who now rant over the tons of plastic and styrofoam wasted in the mailing of modern goods might have appreciated the shipping methods of a century ago, when nearly everything came in wooden boxes. Heavy machine parts were usually sheathed in oak; fruit rode to market in apple boxes or orange crates; liquids transported in glass jars or bottles came inside compartmentalized wooden containers.

The boxes themselves were usually sturdy enough and of such convenient size that they could be put to another use around the house. Somehow I have acquired a pair of sunglasses with a fine wire frame that are still inside the dovetailed balsa-wood box in which the Boston Optical Co. mailed them to Edwin LeGro of Farmington on June 2, 1913. It’s a miracle that the box was never appropriated as a container for rare coins, buttons or some kid’s favorite marbles.