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by Carole Murdock Boxes: To keep or not to keep. That is the question. I have always been fascinated by boxes of all types ever since I was a little girl putting my treasures into cigar boxes. As a grown-up Wade collector, I have from the very beginning of my collecting been almost fanatical about keeping all of my empty Wade boxes. Sometimes, I even drive myself crazy when I realize that many of the later boxed figures have identical boxes. I have even purchased a few empty boxes because they were so unique. I am especially intrigued by the changes some of the boxes have undergone through the years. For example, the Happy Family Series can be found in four different boxes since the series first appeared in 1961. There is a three-sectioned blue box with colorful animals all over it, a similar box in white with different animal drawings, and a white square box made for CDI Imports of California. The hippo, giraffe, mouse and rabbit families came in this box and the large animal’s backstamp included a little cricket in a big C. Pat Murray writes about a fourth design made for Tesco, an English supermarket. The models were fixed to the base of a see-through cellophane box mounted on a green card. The 1950’s are famous for the arrival of the first Whimsies which came in a box of five except for set 5 which was a box of four. Each figure was in its own compartment within the box with its name printed beneath. The 1960’s introduced an entirely new style of Whimsies which were first put into boxes that depicted the animal inside. The animals were released in series of five and each series had its own box color. Toward the end of Whimsie production, all animals were put into red boxes with the animal name listed on a white label. As a third variation, 24 Whimsies were packaged on a card with the animal encased in plastic for a company called Whimsies, Ltd. in California. The TV Pets are in darling boxes that look like a 1950’s TV set. The Snippets, 1956-58, set of ships came in quite an elaborate display box. The Book of Dogs came in boxes which looked like books, of course. The puppy dishes, cat dish, leaf dishes, crackle dishes, candle sticks, etc. all came in colorful, interesting boxes. Each Hat Box Disney originally came in its own striped cardboard hatbox in a variety of colors: red/blue, green/pink/yellow/black with a picture of the figure inside on the lid. When the series was reissued in 1981, the models were put into brown plastic boxes with a composite picture of the Disney characters on the top in a round paper label. These plastic boxes eventually gave way to brightly colored boxes similar in size to the Whimsie boxes. The KP Crisp Friars came in a variety of boxes. I have located four of them. One colorful style contained all 6 figures: five brothers and Father Abbot. Two different ones contained just the brothers, and one small box had just Father Abbot. Tom & Jerry were released in a detailed box depicting a camping scene. The 1959 Viking Bowl originally came in a two part heavy cardboard box with a detailed drawing of a Viking scene. When the bowl was reissued in 1976, it came in a lighter weight, one-piece blue and red box with a picture of the actual bowl on the box. Collecting boxes can be almost as much fun as collecting the actual item. For storage purposes, some of the boxes can be flattened to save space. Boxes can also increase the value of an item. So when you find yourself trying to decide whether to keep that box or not, remember than you are not alone in this boxing dilemma.
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