Old storage boxes aren’t just wooden boxes. They’re keepers of journeys. Before suitcases rolled through airports, trunks were the way people travelled. Built solid, heavy duty, shop antique chest (blog post from goldaccordion.com) sometimes decorated with brass corners or painted lettering. When I first laid eyes on the circus clown trunk, I stopped in my tracks. The painted face staring upside down across the front felt like more than decoration. It felt like a memory of a lost world — an old fairground life.

I remember when the circus came to town once a year. Posters glued to walls promised elephants, fire breathers, acrobats — and always clowns. Looking at the trunk feels like it was there backstage, stuffed with costumes and props, storage trunk waiting for the show to begin.