The Archive of the Common People

Looking about my office I have suddenly realised that there are a number of shoeboxes on my shelves – six to be exact. I also know there are countless others about the house; on shelves, in cupboards, under beds or stacked in the garage.

None are empty. They contain a multitude of items that have been put away for safekeeping. They’re such a convenient size and the lid gives easy access for quick inspection or to retrieve some item……usually accompanied by an exclamation of ‘Found the bloody thing – I knew I had put it somewhere safe!’

Being made of cardboard shoe boxes are not the safest place to keep things. Yet they are entrusted to hold all manner of items; photographs, accounts, balls of string, memory items from our own and our children’s youth, wills, ante-nuptial contracts, grandma’s love letters, baby teeth, spare dentures, nuts and bolts, old toothbrushes, a box of gramophone needles and other things we are loathe to part with.

Many of these shoe box treasures chronicle the lives of our family members. Documents relating to a Great-Great Grandfather’s journey to Natal as a Byrne Settler 156 years ago. A Grandfather’s army discharge papers from the Royal Berkshire Regiment at the end of the Anglo-Boer war. My Father’s motorcycle driver’s licence; adorned with endorsements for speeding and then eventual suspension – the pedigree of a founder member of the West Street Willies indeed. Old baptismal certificates in ornate German script bearing testimony to our diverse background. My Mother’s old ID document with ‘Deceased/Oorlede’ stamped in red ink across the first page – how brutally final it looks.

Our history and our treasures are kept in thousands of shoe boxes in homes spread throughout the land. Oh what invaluable records must get thrown away when the next generation arrives to ‘clean up the Old People’s place’ once they have been consigned to the local ‘Shady Pines’ where space is limited and they have to be parted from their earthly possessions.

The humble shoe box found dust-covered at the bottom of the wardrobe should be treated as an archaeological treasure or time capsule. Open it with care and examine the contents with reverence for they were considered important enough to store for the future.

The shoe box is indeed the archive of the common people.