A Few Hints about Packing by Maud Sisley Boyd

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 23, 1916

A Few Hints about Packing

By Maud Sisley Boyd

MAUD SISLEY BOYD

As our workers are frequently obliged to move from one place to another, a few hints, gained by experience, may be appreciated by those just starting out as missionaries.

How often, when calling at a house whose occupants are expecting to change their place of abode, one finds a perfect turmoil, even weeks before the removal is to take place. The caller is asked to excuse the appearance of things, as preparations are being made for moving. With many this seems to be a sufficient excuse for all sorts of disorder and discomfort.

Nearly all this unpleasant part of the experience may be avoided if the housewife will take time for a little careful thought and planning, keeping the comfort of her family in mind.

When it is decided that a move must be made, select the spare room, if you have one, and if not, the one that is least used, and in it arrange your packing boxes in orderly array. Begin by going through the house, selecting from each room the things that are not essential for comfort, and packing them away. Pictures, curtains, the “best” dishes, certain linen, etc., are among the things which may be disposed of in this manner.

Next go through every drawer and cupboard, and selecting such things as you wish to take, pack them in the waiting cases. In this way dispose of the things you wish to take with you, and leave chairs, couches, and the floor free for their accustomed use. With a little care your house can be kept tidy until the last moment.

Dishes travel more safely if packed in barrels. Sort out all of a size, and place a thickness of cloth or paper between them. Then select something sufficiently large to wrap around the package tightly, and pin it up securely. These bundles should then be packed together as closely as possible, and the spaces filled with soft material. If your dishes are taken care of in this way, you will usually find them whole when you unpack them.

Anything you are packing which can be injured by insects should be rolled in newspaper and securely tied, or packed with moth balls, camphor, or something of that kind.

When taking a long journey, where perhaps you may not see your goods for six months or a year, at the end of which time you must get along in small quarters, where there is not room enough to unpack everything, it is very helpful to know what is in each packing case. This can be accomplished by segregating the things,—numbering each case, and on a card bearing the same number, writing the general class of things in the box. Keep these cards for reference at the end of the journey. They are very helpful.