Japanese Crate

[Indigo Knight]

I found this Japanese crate that was originally used for shipping jars of jelly. It's wood with a galvanized steel lining, and has neat graphics and the original customs inspection label.

It appears to be vintage 1950s or 1960s. The label is marked "EDITION OF 1 NOV 58 IS OBSOLETE".

The price was right. It came with a bunch of other stuff at a yard sale where everything was free!

 

[tamrock]

I like it

 

[diggummup]

Me too. I bet it'd sell pretty well also.

 

[Indigo Knight]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who appreciates it! People I've shown in person have also liked it.

It's a tough item to price, particularly here on the East Coast. I'm thinking of asking $100 at the flea market, as I think it'd be a quick sell at $50. And if it doesn't sell, it will draw people over to see my other items. Every time I set up there I like to bring something that no other vendor has.

It's not particularly large or heavy, so selling it on eBay is also a possibility.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

The metal inside leads me to believe it's an old Japanese tea box.
Search ebay with that term, there was one for $250, (no idea how long it may have been listed).
I paid $60 once, for one. It was being sold by a teacher who had been over there 3 or 4 yrs teaching, and was stuffed full of origami papers, folding tools, and instruction books (all in Japanese, of course, lol).
Needless to say, I've yet to undertake my origami projects.......

Good luck and cool find.

 

[jason4kstate]

It's a box for tea. The writing says it won the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries award.

 

[GibH]

The metal inside leads me to believe it's an old Japanese tea box.
Search ebay with that term, there was one for $250, (no idea how long it may have been listed).
I paid $60 once, for one. It was being sold by a teacher who had been over there 3 or 4 yrs teaching, and was stuffed full of origami papers, folding tools, and instruction books (all in Japanese, of course, lol).
Needless to say, I've yet to undertake my origami projects.......

Good luck and cool find.

I like folding paper...as long as there are pictures of dead presidents on it.

 

[Indigo Knight]

Thanks for the info everyone. It is definitely a tea box. I will let you know when it sells.

That one listed on the bay is in much better condition, but mine has vintage "character" to it and one can tell it was actually used for importing into the U.S.

 

[Indigo Knight]

I took it to the flea market once. It was a cold day and the sun never came out, so not many buyers. No one even looked at it.

Instead of storing it all winter I sent it with a bunch of other stuff to an auction house. It didn't attract any bids by itself, so it sold with the lot of leftover stuff.

I got about $2 for it.