When I first laid eyes on the circus clown trunk, I froze for a moment. The red-nosed clown staring upside down across the front felt like more than decoration. It felt like a piece of a lost world — an old fairground life. Chests aren’t just places to keep things. They’re keepers of journeys. Before cheap mass metal storage trunk (Toulouse published a blog post) appeared, trunks were the way people travelled. Built solid, heavy duty, sometimes decorated with brass corners or painted lettering. I still think about 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, waiting for the show to begin.