Typographers case display idea

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I’m a font geek.
I’ll always be a font geek, even though I don’t work as a designer any longer.
When I was in art school, we had classes on “traditional” design; I’ve actually been graded on my X-acto skills.
My father-in-law, if I remember correctly, once had a job sorting typographer’s letters.
When he sorted those letters, they’d go into a drawer like this one:
I’ve wanted to collect typographer’s letters for a long time; I’ve pinned lots of display ideas, lust after them when I see them at the antiques fair, but I’ve never actually pulled the trigger on starting my collection. I do have a little Kodak logo one, and a cool old newspaper printing plate, but I’ve never actually gotten to the letters.

I picked up the above typographer’s drawer at the Alameda Antiques Fair last spring; I love it, and had planned to fill it with tiny treasures and letters from as-of-yet unstarted collection.

It wasn’t until Max and I were walking home from school together the other day that I had a better idea.

He asked if he could choose a white rock from a section of sidewalk that has that quartz rock in it. We weren’t in a hurry, so I said sure, and he spent a couple of minutes choosing the “right” one.

As soon as he found it, he handed it to me.

“For you, Mommy!”

And then I knew.

The drawer isn’t going to display my treasures, it will display Max’s. All those things that he collects, that are important to him, will go in the display. So far, it’s just an acorn and a “ponky ball” he brought home from school one day, but I will continue to add to it as he continues to bring home or acquire little treasures.

I can’t wait to see how it grows and changes over the years! What tiny treasures would you store in a display like this?