Memory Boxes
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Memory Boxes

Memory Boxes are a great way to interact with a family member, social group, or in a care home. These boxes contain a mixture of objects relating to each topic and will soon get the conversation flowing. We have different boxes available to hire.

Some of the boxes on offer are from specific decades – such as the 1930/40s and 1950/60s. There are also thematic boxes such as Childhood and Holidays.

Available Boxes

An assortment of items from the 1940s, featuring glamorous high-heeled shoes, gloves, and accessories such as a metal mesh evening bag. There are also magazines and newspapers, a photograph of a wartime celebrity, and various personal grooming items, reflecting the fashion and culture of the era.

Out on the Town

£10 weekly hire
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Clothes, drinks, papers and capers from the past. This Memory Box contains:

Fashion and Accessories: silver shoes, white gloves, an evening shirt for men, a petticoat, a pearl necklace and earrings set, a brooch, cufflinks, various jumper and crochet patterns, a powder compact, lipstick, a fountain pen, a cigarette packet, and a Ronson lighter.

Entertainment and Leisure: Let’s Swing CD, Be Anything But Be Mine sheet music, Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, cue cards, yellow sheets with memories and dances, a flipchart of two people waltzing, The War Illustrated magazine and Picturegoer magazine.

Beverages and Nightlife: a Colchester Brewery Company bottle, a drinking glass, advertisements for period-specific events like “We’ll meet again” and “Boomps a daisy,” and a poster about going out after the blackout.

Memorabilia and Keepsakes: an ID card, hairpins, a decorated table cover, and photos of town centres and notable figures like Greer Garson.

A mix of wartime and post-war domestic items, including a Home Guard book, a steel helmet, a sewing kit, and other personal effects such as a handbag and ration books. The items are indicative of life during World War II, with a focus on home front activities and preparedness.

Memory Lane

£10 weekly hire
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Take a trip down memory lane with this chock-full box of times past. This Memory Box contains:

Historical Documents and Publications: a Home Guard Handbook with clippings, Herbert James Herman’s Home Guard certificate, War leaflets, The War Illustrated No. 105, daily newspapers from significant dates in 1945, war posters and a booklet on war gases and sprays.

Knitting and Crafting: a variety of knitting and crochet patterns including Bestway and Sirdar designs, a Woolcraft guide to practical knitting and crochet, Neweys eyes and thread, Peri-lusta darning thread, Shadwicks mending cotton, knitting needles, a grey crochet mat, a white cotton placemat, and a small decorated table runner.

Personal and Household Items: an ID card, a Ronson lighter, a lipstick case, milk tokens, grey and white and green aprons, a white nightdress, a pillow cover, a selection of old glasses, a button hook, a helmet, a gas mask, a bag of cotton, dolly pegs, Good Housekeeping’s Ways with Pastry and other culinary publications.

Memorabilia and Collectibles: a British Red Cross for service brooch, a variety of birthday and greeting cards, laminated photographs, a carbolic soap, a pipe cleaner, a collection of household patterns and guidebooks, a Classic Crooners CD, and cue cards.

A diverse collection of mid-20th-century tools, personal items, and documents. Featured prominently are various metalworking tools, including a hand drill, wrenches, and a wood plane. There are also personal grooming items such as a Gillette razor set and a tin of Capstan tobacco. Documents include sewing patterns, a "Home Guard Fieldcraft Manual," and a "Defence" magazine. A pair of sunglasses, a tartan tie, and a blue garment, possibly a military or work uniform, are also displayed, providing a glimpse into both practical and everyday aspects of life during that period.

Work Life

£10 weekly hire
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An array of work attire, publications and more about work in days gone by. This Memory Box contains:

Publications: BEA magazine August 1958, The New Bond September 1939, Elementary Drill Memory card for Squad commanders, Defence: The Services Magazine 1942, Home Guard Fieldcraft manual and First Aid and Nursing for Gas Casualties book, and 2 posters

Work Attire: a 1970s Ladies’ working dress and blue tie, shirt collar, and anti-gas eyeshields.

Work Accessories: a skirt level, a large key, a Ronson lighter, a Gillette razor set, a roll of bus tickets and a Capstan tin.

Tools: a wooden plane, a steel tool bit, a gold marking tool, a corner clamp, a steel wrench, a clamp, a metal gauge, and various tools for manual work.

Craft Supplies: a darning mushroom, work attire patterns (including Butterick, Women’s Realm, Simplicity, Vogue, Patons, Marriners, Sirdar, and Lavenda), a bag of thread, wool, darning and household mending thread, Neweys hooks and eyes, Aero knitting needles, two thimbles, a hook, a sailor crochet aid, and some hospital knitted items.

A selection of travel and leisure items from the mid-20th century, including guidebooks, a holiday brochure, and various toys like a puppet and a board game. The collection also features a vintage camera and travel documents, evoking the nostalgia of post-war family holidays.

Holiday Memories

£10 weekly hire
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Memories of holidays at the beautiful British seaside. This Memory Box contains:

Travel and Exploration: a Clem travel iron with box, a travel clock, a leather luggage tag, the Sunday Times Holiday Guide to GB and Continent 1950, Swan’s Travellers Club itineraries for 1961 and 1962, a 1960 British Railways pamphlet for holiday roundabout tickets, a Day Return ticket from Waterloo to Stoneleigh, tickets from the Western and Southern National Omnibus Companies, and train tickets from locations like Aberdeen, Paddington, and Chester.

Photography and Snapshots: a Pocket Kodak camera, a Kodak Brownie 127 camera, albums and snapshots from the Royal Bath Hotel and Bournemouth, and postcards from seaside locations such as The Sea Front, Cowes, and various Torquay guesthouses.

Leisure and Entertainment: the Dreamboats and Petticoats Summer Holidays CD, a pocket chess and checkers set, and a collection of puppets including a crocodile, a policeman, and a lion.

Fashion and Apparel: booklets of knitting patterns including swimwear and “Sun suits” for the first year, alongside patterns from Simplicity, Vogue, and Le Roy for men’s and women’s beachwear.

Beach and Seaside Essentials: a spade, a pair of sunglasses, a thermos flask, a glass vial of sand, and shells collected from the shore.

 

A collection of gardening tools and related items, including pots, seed packets, gardening books, gloves, and various tools like pruners and a trowel. The items reflect a focus on practical gardening and home horticulture.

Around The Garden

£10 weekly hire
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An assortment of tools and more from around gardens of the past. This Memory Box contains:

Gardening Literature and Publications: Flowers to Grow from Seed by Clay Jones, Be your own Rose Expert by Harry Wheatcroft, a J Parker bulb catalogue, a catalogue for Greenhouse Heaters, assorted loose adverts, The Showbench laminate and Dig for Victory laminate, highlighting historical gardening campaigns and exhibitions.

Tools and Equipment: a wooden handled trowel, a hoe head, small hedge shears with wooden handles, old secateurs, a mole trap, a shed door bolt lock, and a Carborundum sharpening stone, used for maintaining garden tools and securing garden sheds.

Gardening Accessories: a pair of modern gardening gloves, garden string, two terracotta plant pots, a tin of Elastoplast dressings and a paint brush smelling of creosote, reflecting the practical side of garden maintenance.

Memorabilia and Collectibles: gardening hints cards, empty seed packets, a National Vegetable Society medal, and a “Grow Your Own” war poster, emphasizing the importance of self-sufficiency during wartime.

Additional Resources: three informational sheets about the contents of the box, providing context and details for each item, enhancing the educational value of the collection.

Where will your adventure start?