This originally appeared on my Blogger site in 2009. All the items contained in the box may not be 100% correct; this was eight years ago and I have learned a lot since then. It does give you an idea of how you can incorporate a progressive activity at a mainstream event. We had a lot of fun with this box and the unit that received it enjoyed the surprise as well.
The box was put together over a few weekends by ladies in Texas and distributed at the Liendo Plantation event near Hempstead, Texas.
Here are some pictures of the contents:
Handmade shirt. This was made from a dress I no longer wore but the fabric was still in good shape; hated to waste the fabric and buttons so recycled!
Housewives. They contain some thread, buttons and pins.
Pencils, paper and some of the wallpaper envelopes we made at Texian Market Days.
Haversack. This and some of the bags are made from ticking I had. Not enough to do much but worked well for this.
Cotton handkerchiefs
Rice, black eyed peas and dried peaches, Goober peas (peanuts), pecans, dried apples, lemon drops and some pieces of home made lye soap
Tic-tac-toe and checkers. This was an amazing contribution. The markers are wood and painted. A lot went into these.
Neco wafers (yes period), peppermint sticks and another housewife
Poke bags. One of the ladies buys flower bulbs and they come in these little cotton bags. She washes them and they are perfect tobacco bags or for whatever.
There is so much stuff it barely fit in the box. There is no lid for the box but I wrapped the muslin used to line the box around the contents and tied it up with twine.
Then wrapped all that with brown paper and more twine.
The box presentation went very well and was really appreciated by the unit that received it. It was a huge surprise and I think really added to their experience of the event.