Dear vintage cycling enthusiasts, This is my first letter to the group I have come to enjoy and celebrate each and every week. I thought the controversy surrounding the collectibe box would be a good place to "jump in." I have been an antique collector and off-and-on dealer for thirty-five years now, and I can attest to the fact that an original box for a particular item not only increases the value of its original contents, in some cases it is more valuable than the object it once contained. Packaging is fragile, was most often simply thrown away, and so when an original box from the turn of the century or even ten to twenty years ago surfaces, it is a cause for great delight among serious collectors. A friend of mine was rescuing some oak flooring from a Victorian house about to be torn down, when his wife did some exploring of the attic. There she found several Elgin bicycle boxes (pre WWII)that had been tacked to the two by fours as a windbreak. So far as I know, these late 1930's boxes are the only ones known to survive. I treasure them. I also realize that to a non-collector these historical oddities might appear unimportant. John Barron shares my instincts to preserve. The fellow who purchased the box knew what he was doing.
Thanks, and happy new year to my fellow vintage enthusiasts. Daniel Dahlquist, Galena, IL