Cigar box bounty

A deep black treasure chest

Given my love of boxes it's sort of amazing that I never developed a passion for cigar boxes...until now, of course.
I picked up one recently at an antique store to hold my embroidery threads. In the basement studio I use quite a few different plastic containers to hold my supplies and I'm content with them. But I wanted something different for my embroidery floss...maybe because the box sits out on my coffee table while I'm working and I wanted a box with character.

That simple acquisition set off a chain reaction, though, and I began to think about how one or two more cigar boxes could be used around the house. I knew a local liquor store offered them for sale once a month, but not until the end of the month. Then I was reminded by a friend that a cigar store in St. Paul has them on sale all the time. So as part of my Saturday errands yesterday, I stopped by.

A red box with a removable tray

I felt a little foolish...it was clearly a man's store, but I decided just to have fun with it. The clerk asked how he could help me and when I said I was looking for cigar boxes, he told me I'd come at the right time and pointed to a sign that said "April Special: All boxes $1 each"...and then led me back to a room with literally hundreds of boxes stacked three and four feet deep. There were more sizes, shapes and colors than I had ever seen before in my life. Many of them are handmade with beautiful hinges and clasps. But even the cardboard ones are as sturdy as you could wish and close beautifully.

Two unusual specimens

When you come across something like this, you don't just pick out one or two. I put my purse down and set to work to choose an assortment for myself. Across the room a few guys were enjoying the actual cigars and watching the Masters Tournament on TV. They began to heckle me mildly for my fascination with the boxes but I knew it was just gentle ribbing. I went to the front of the store to pay for my choices and when I came back to put them in a bag, they were gone! My cigar-smoking friends had actually gotten out of their chairs and had some fun with me by hiding my stack. (I wonder what they would think if I had hid the TV remote from them?)

It's always hard for me to put new treasures away right away, so I have a nice collection of cigar boxes on my coffee table this morning. The house smells like my Uncle Joe (who loved his stogey)...a nice mix of cedar and tobacco. I now have more boxes than even I think I could possibly need....except I actually do want to go back for more.