Items can be concealed in books in a number of ways. Small items such as a photograph or notes can be hidden in between the pages. Thicker items can be hidden by removing the interior portion of some or all of the pages, creating a book safe or hollowed-out book. Book safes are easy for its owner to recognise, but they do not stand out to a thief or other intruder.
Book safes provide cheap and easily accessible method of hiding small valuables and the most elaborate examples features a compartment requiring a key or combination within, offering an additional layer of security.
Hollowing out books for storage purpose is not a new idea, and having it as a covert storage is an excellent security technique. You probably don’t want to store anything too important in it due to the lack of a lock, but it’s great for general concealment. As they say, “out of sight, out of mind”. Hollow book safes provide the perfect hiding and storage place for your small valuables and they also make a great surprise gift.
Brian and Heather Egan stumbled onto the idea independently in 1992 when a family member's home was robbed. They were operating a woodworking business in Black Creek, on Vancouver Island, Canada at the time and were well equipped to experiment with clever ways to hide small valuables.
Since 1997 the family business, named the BookBox Company, has been entirely devoted to the art of hollow books. All their units, called BookBoxes are made from real, discarded books. Most are purchased by weight from charities that receive the books as donations and are unable to re-sell them. Waste books are also acquired through recycling operations and from publishers . All the items are hand made from discarded books and each one is individually hand crafted into attractive and useful boxes.
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You can purchase the BookBoxes here: