From Ships To Pubs: A London Story About Storage Chests

When I first saw the circus clown trunk, I just stared. The hand-drawn clown staring upside down across the front felt like more than decoration. It felt like a fragment of a lost world — a travelling circus. Trunks aren’t just places to keep things. They’re time capsules. Before cheap mass storage appeared, trunks were the way people travelled. Built solid, heavy duty, sometimes decorated with brass corners or painted lettering.

I can’t forget 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 where to buy a vintage trunk begin.