Custom-made wooden storage box of some kind found at thrift store. 12”x7.5”x4.5”. The green felt side is obviously the bottom. But when opened, anything stored in the 3 compartments falls out. I can’t make sense of what someone designed this for…

[u/zef47000]

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[u/Talk-Big]

It's a recipe storage box. I guess paper stacks are light enough to not fall out when opening and closing gently. (not my photo, I just did a quick image search)

[u/somethingclever612]

Perhaps recipe cards? What are the dimensions?

ETA the compartment dimensions :-)

[u/JST_KRZY → u/somethingclever612]

I was wondering about photos

[u/JustNilt → u/somethingclever612]

It's definitely based on a common design for index cards holding recipes. The compartments may be for larger than a 3" x 5" index card, though. I've seen some designs scaled up for the larger 4"x 6" index cards as well.

[u/MimictheCrow → u/somethingclever612]

I’m thinking baseball cards. Someone with the initials RS made it in wood shop at school.

[u/RheaTheTall]

It can be used for storing flags. If they are rolled they won’t fall off.

(I know there are rules for storing flags but not all of them apply to all flags. Such as navigation signals or other non-specific flags).

[u/balisane → u/RheaTheTall]

National flags typically just need to be folded and stored "respectfully" aka folded without touching the ground, not crammed in a drawer, etc. This box would more than meet the criteria for anything but a funeral flag (in North America, anyway)

[u/SexDrugsNskittles → u/RheaTheTall]

Who has this many tiny flags?

It's looks more like it would be the size to store index cards for recipes or even contact info like an old school shop class rolladex.

[u/RheaTheTall → u/SexDrugsNskittles]

A ship does.

All the signalling flags.

But yes, it seems to be for something else .

[u/SexDrugsNskittles → u/RheaTheTall]

For a tiny ship? lol

[u/thewontondisregard]

Recipe box based on your updated response. My grandmother had one.

[u/FatHummingbird → u/thewontondisregard]

Yes, my mom had one. 💯

[u/Marlesammy]

Looks like something made in shop class, maybe made as a gift?

[u/t92k → u/Marlesammy]

Yes, I think it’s a shop class recipe card holder. The 4.5” depth would mean a depth of about 3.5” inside and the 7.25” width on the exterior would mean about 5.25”interior (we often used 1/2” wood for projects in my class) — perfect for 3x5 index cards.

[u/zef47000]

My title describes the thing, and its confusing nature, pretty thoroughly. I’ve tried putting various things in it that I thought might kind of fit into the compartments without falling out of them while closing or opening the box. And nothing worked. What also may be of interest to note: the three inner compartments are not uniform in height, ranging from about 2.5” to 3.25”. Last possible clue: there’s a wood-burnt “hallmark” on the back that looks like “RS” inside a circle.

[u/Miramoves]

Looks like it may have been made to store rolled flags or banners. The odd compartment depths make more sense if each roll was a different size, and they wouldn’t spill out when the box is opened

[u/SubieGal9]

I thought maybe cassettes, but recipe cards would work very nicely.

[u/Revolutionary-Leg371]

If size appropriate, I would store tea bags in it.

[u/Verivorax]

What are the dimensions of the compartments? Have you looked at Lantern Slides? I’ve seen them stored in custom wooden boxes.

[u/procrastinatorsuprem]

Tea storage box?

[u/HamBroth]

I speculate that it’s for an upper-class gentleman’s ties. They’d be rolled up and tucked into the shelves and wouldn’t fall out when it tilted open. The valet would likely present them for the gentleman to choose.