My Pillbox Collection

I love little boxes. Often I will pick up a decorative pillbox as a souvenir on my travels. They are small enough to easily fit in an overly-stuffed suitcase, do not take up much space as a collection in the home, and bring a smile to my face every time I see them and reminisce about the little shop or occasion when I purchased it.

Most of my pillboxes are on a dresser mirror which was my mother's. She loved dresser mirrors and I have another beautiful mirror on the other end of my dresser which she gave me for Christmas one year.  Everything on this mirror, including the little ceramic dog (a gift from Ash), is very special to me. Here are a few of my pillboxes and special momentos....

 Travels through Europe...

  

This little box...

 

...reminds me of our cobblestone walk up to the beautiful Bascilla of St. Francis Assisi in Italy.

 My Paris collection consists of the iconic Eiffel Tower souvenir, a paperweight, and a pillbox from different trips there...

These pillboxes are from America. The one on the left is from New England and the one on the right is a Daughters of the American Revolution commemorative pillbox and depicts the DAR Headquarters in Washington D.C.   

 This box is a little larger and was a gift from my daughter Ash when she traveled to Barcelona, Spain...

 When I was in Durango, Colorado a few years ago, I searched for a little pillbox without success, but then happened upon this little pincushion bird. Isn't she sweet? And guess what? She opens up and is a little box!

 

 This ruby glass collection is very special to me. On the left is a souvenir mug that belonged to my grandmother Blanche. The one in the middle was my mother Frances'. I decided to get one for myself to start an heirloom collection so asked a friend of mine who owns an antique shop to keep her eye open for one. She came up with this one for me and it is just waiting for me to have it engraved with my name and year.  My mother's has the year 1943 on the other side.

 

 These are not pillboxes but are on my dresser and very sentimental to me. The wooden box was made by late brother Jack in his high school woodshop class, a gift to our mother. Inside are small momentos of her's that I have kept -- a folding fan, a small book of poetry, some pins, and other odds and ends. The music box was a gift from my daughter Ash from a shop we went to in Lucerne, Switzerland.

 

 Beautiful Lucerne is one of my favorite places.

Now you can see why these small items can bring back a lifetime of memories.