Why Trunks Are Never Just Boxes

When I first laid eyes on the circus clown trunk, I froze for a moment. the art station hand-drawn 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.

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

Chests aren’t just containers. They’re time capsules. Before plastic tubs filled every house, trunks were the way people travelled. Built solid, heavy duty, sometimes decorated with brass corners or painted lettering.