This past weekend I cleaned my side of the closet. Threw out clothes I didn't wear this winter and removed shoes from shoe boxes. Shoes need to be free, I will wear them if I can see them. When I was a child most of our shoes were purchased off the rack without a shoe box. My mother would save the rare shoe boxes that came into our house, saved boxes to use for visiting, traveling kin to pack lunches.
This was before integration when African Americans on the road had limited places to eat in dignity. We improvised, packed our own food for road trips. The shoe box was a convenient size for traveling on the bus, train or plane. It would be tied neatly with thick thread, yarn or thin strips of fabric
It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless such white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the street is provided for each compartment. Alabama Jim Crow Laws
Talking with friends about what was prepared for the shoebox lunch, we all mentioned fried chicken, fruit and pound cake. Someone in my family canned pickles and a pickle was included in the box. Boiled eggs, homegrown tomatoes, peanuts, sandwiches, and cheese were also mentioned.
