This is a photo of the New Albany Box & Basket factory in New Albany, IN taken in early 1990’s.

The factory has always been a bit of an enigma to me. My great grandfather, Charles P. Marguet became President of NABB Co. in 1943, and my grandfather Patrick Marguet began working there as a young man as secretary/treasure. the factory was closed in 1996 and my grandfather retired. Since I was a young kid, the existence and significance of the factory has always a part of my family life. I visited once as a kid, and remember being in an office that looked like it had come straight out of a Thornton Wilder play, playing with a 19th century steel nameplate press that my family later adopted when the factory shut down. 

The factory burned down in the late 90’s, but I still feel its lingering presence around my grandparents house and whenever my grandfather talks family history (which is more often than not). Its funny to me how a place I’ve barely ever known myself feels so alive in my psyche through just the passage of storytelling and funny anecdotes.