Thursday, April 27, 2006

collection collective: traincases

i am a compulsive
organizer.
i like things
put away
in their proper place.
this has manifested itself
in a love of containers
and tupperware.
but sometime
in my early 20s
i started
to feel bad
about buying
plastic rubermade
containers...
they will just end up
in a landfill,

my friend
would remind me...
so i started to search
for an attractive
and
environmentally-friendly
way to store things.
finally one christmas
about 7 or 8 years ago
my parents gave me this:

that is where
it all began...
i fell in love
with the traincase.

traincases are
an obselete
little piece of luggage
that people
don't use much anymore.
its name,
so i am told,
comes from
its design
to fit neatly
under
your train seat
(it also fits
under a plane
seat too).

i love
vintage things...
but i am
particularly
fond of those things
that have become
antiquated
in today's world:
typewriters,
8-track players,
super-8 cameras,
etc.

traincases
quickly became
my storage for
all those little things...
craft supplies,
cameras,
sewing notions,
cosmetics,
jewelry,
etc.
and are
on most of
the bookshelves
in my apt:


here are most
of my traincases:


i have limited myself
to 50 and 60s
samsonite
and
american tourister
traincases.
so
i have started
to give some
traincases
away
in
the great monday give-away™,
as pictured
here and here
and this one will go next!

what do you collect?
i have set up
the collection collective
on flickr.
please show us your collections
or
post a comment
so we can check your blog!

in other news...
i received my
purple and green color-iffic
swap package yesterday-
all the way from portugal!!!
i will post photos tomorrow.
this is what i mailed to my swap buddy:

i am awfully proud of
my bunny flopsy:

it's my first softie!

until tomorrow!

5 comments:

bikeandbeer said...

well, it's late but i kept my word -- i posted my jewelry boxes collection! i also joined te flckr group. can't wait to see what people collect!

Jay said...

I love the train cases... they are what has been missing from my life all these years!

Anonymous said...

The train cases are fantastic and that you use them for organization even better.

Great job on the bunny -- so, so cute. I like the dark gray color.

I need to take time to take some photos. I have a few collections to showcase...

f. pea said...

oh my goodness, you have a lucky swapping pal! look at all the pretty purple & green prizes! the bag! the bunny! i'm hyperventilating!

A COLLAGE A DAY said...

I love your collection of train cases. I did not know what they were until today. I found one at my local Goodwill. I bought it and use it to store my miniature train set in.

r.