Trinket Tray and Swap Boxes

We've starting a 'take a trinket, leave a trinket' dish at the booth in the 400 Market! No purchase needed, just leave something if you take something!  

While this recent trend was started by Witch Bitch Thrift in Connecticut, I wanted to talk a bit about a Canadian version of this trend that I've learned about.

Back in the 2000s, there was an artist named Elmaks, who created the Swap Box in Ottawa - little boxes that were bright and colourful and left all over Ottawa and later Montreal. Passersbys were encouraged with the motto “Take something – Leave something” on each of the boxes. It was interactive art, from an artist with a history of street art and an interest in found-art grafitti.

Some survive today - check out this Ottawa map of swap boxes and little libraries that was posted in 2023. I had feared, while researching this, that this wouldn't be the case - having encountered warnings that weather, by-law enforcements, souvenir hunters and others had taken their toll. 

That survival of some boxes brings me some quiet joy, especially when I read this quote from Elmaks. "I look on Swap Boxes, just like most other forms of streetart, as ephemeral and temporary additions to the urban landscape which survive and flourish based on others’ good will." 

As Elmaks isn't with us any longer, I think that this is a particular bit of joyful Canadiana that we should embrace. Swap Boxes and trinket exchange trays both bring a wonderful piece of novelty and whimsy where purchases aren't required, only exchanges. While our trinket tray isn't a Swap Box - which was an inherently public creation as street art - I plan on eventually creating one near our home, with the help of our room mate. 

"I hope that people’s first encounters with Swap Boxes make them more interested in the hidden and overlooked elements of the urban landscape that they would otherwise pass right by. I hope it makes people who encounter it and find something to swap return back and check what others have exchanged, and I hope it helps bring people together who otherwise would not meet and helps kickstart a renewed interest in public spaces."

(Quotes found from this interview)