This cache is dedicated to the reminiscence and admiration of Roseville’s early dwellers. It is part of a series of caches called: “CACHE OUT IN ROSEVILLE”
The cardboard box may seem like a boring subject, but it has quite an interesting history that also affected a railroad town like Roseville back in the early 1900’s.
In 1871, R. L. Jones had invented a type of cardboard that consisted of a flat face of wood fiber with another piece of corrugated layer glued to it. It was used for wrapping bottles for shipping. When the patent for his invention ran out, he had to think of something else to do with all that wood fiber. His solution was to add another flat piece on top to make a “sandwich”. It was soon realized that this new product was strong enough that items could be shipped in them. Soon, box-shaped cardboard cut-outs were being manufactured.
Now the railroads were the main way to transport things back then. At first the railroads refused to accept boxes because they said they were not strong enough. But the railroads had a “secret agenda”.
So in 1910 the railroads began to accept cardboard boxes for shipping, but they charged a huge levy tariff – as much as 400% more for cardboard box shipments (with no tariff for wooden boxes). This was really stifling the growth of the cardboard box industry.
It turned out that the “secret agenda” was this: When the government gave the land to the railroads, they also gave them the land adjacent to the rails. The proposed railroads were to run through forests so that there would be plenty of trees to cut down for making railroad ties. And to manufacture these ties, the railroads needed sawmills. So once the railroad was completed thru the area, the railroads continued to use the sawmills to make wooden boxes for shipping.
So there was a huge battle between the railroads and the cardboard industry. Finally in 1914, angry cardboard manufacturers sued the railroads, saying that they were discriminating. And cardboard won!!! It was like the Fourth of July for the cardboard industry!
The Interstate Commerce Commission ruled that there was no difference between wood and fiber boxes. The government did require that both had to make some standards about how strong those boxes would have to be. On the bottom of boxes, a round seal was required, certifying who made the box, where it was made, and how much weight it could hold. This seal can still be seen on boxes today. (source: Surprisingly Awesome podcast #19)
This cache, named BOXED IN is located near some trees, across from a mini-storage that has lots of boxes in it, a cardboard recycling center next to the mini-storage, plus the railroad runs right in back of that. If I could have figured out how to waterproof a cardboard box, I would have hid the cache in one!