Young Girls In Leather

Faux Leather Diary | Write On Carroll

The Girls Jewelry Box – an Ongoing Tradition

These days, one doesn't often associate girls and tradition, but one tradition that has lasted well beyond feminism and all its offshoots is the girls jewelry box. The girls jewelry box transcends its stereotypes. Today there are as many different types of girls' jewelry boxes as there are types of, well, girls. There are still, of course, the traditional leather (or faux leather) boxes with a music box and ballerina figurine, but there are also girls' jewelry boxes in every medium from wood to metal, with findings that represent everything from "Goth" ornamentation to guitars.

Further current girls' jewelry boxes are a bit larger than traditional ones. They hold a lot more than the small collection of rings and necklaces that girls used to collect. These days, a girls jewelry box can hold a small diary, guitar picks, the usual jewelry, objects that have caught her fancy, and just about anything else. Girls' jewelry boxes are also more sturdily built, given that girls are much more active these days

But when did the tradition of giving a young girl a jewelry box begin? As far back as the Middle Ages, young girls of the nobility had boxes to contain the few pieces of jewelry they received from family. These boxes were often elaborately carved, in keeping with the family's status. These boxes were not like the girls jewelry boxes of today, though; they were ornate enough and large enough to hold all the jewelry that a girl was likely to amass throughout her lifetime. Often, the carvings included family crests or shields, and items of interest to the young woman who would own the box.

A girls jewelry box is one of her most treasured belongings. She usually keeps it within a hand's reach of her bed, so that she can play with it (if it has a ballerina), and listen to the music (if it has a music box). She will often keep it even beyond when she outgrows it, so that she will be able to pass it down to the daughter she hopes to one day have.

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