️ I should hope that my well documented 20+ year romance with collecting and refinishing atomic era vintage 20 gauge steel (office) furniture might allay that charge. (Besides, it’s not really a “flex” until I finish refinishing it, which will take a while…)

It takes a bit to build up a paper collection to outgrow a single box or two to decide to put some effort into finding something larger. I’d started with a light green Acrimet 4×6 box in November 2021, in part to match the architect’s desk I had just started working on.

Of course if you want some more concrete “receipts”:

I have been heavily debating going the route of the stackable double card boxes that were common from roughly the 1960s on, but given their price versus larger files and the rest of my collection, the bigger vintage ones won out. For those interested in newer furniture Bisley has some of these stackable boxes, but older vintage versions are pretty common on Craigslist and e-Bay and generally less expensive, even with shipping.

Of course I have been enviously eyeing some vintage Gaylord Brothers wooden card catalogs, but the high price tags, the wooden mis-match with other furniture, mixed with the 3×5″ card limitations are just a bridge too far for me.

I would be interested in hearing the story of Dan’s research on card catalog files and his ultimate acquisition. It does make for a cozy and very functional reading nook as pictured on the cover of his new book though.

Who else has been looking at options outside of some of the usual ideas of cardboard boxes, cheap plastic, or smaller “Amazon” options?