The military assigns its members a trunk to store their personal effects. These footlockers would follow the assignee from one assignment to another. And as they married and had kids, the number of footlockers would go to match the size of the family.
As an Army brat, you knew that a move was imminent when you would see footlockers showing up, some new and others out of storage.
Brats were not allowed to pack too many personal items because of the weight allowance per family. But we were allowed to fill up one footlocker with things. So every time we moved, that meant choosing what you wanted to keep and discarding the rest. Once our footlockers were packed, they shipped to the next posting. It might take months before you would see the footlocker again.
And when your footlocker showed up, it was Christmas. Open the lid, and there was all the stuff you treasured. Once you unpacked your footlocker, it would disappear back into storage until the next move. And when that time came again, you would have to sort through everything again and choose what would stay and what would be discarded. '
When it was time to go to college, I took my footlocker. It became my archive for items that were important to me. And it has been in my possession ever since.
1946 Beals & Selkirk WW2 Military Footlocker Trunk
My footlocker is an official 1946 Beals & Selkirk WW2 Military Transport Box Footlocker Trunk. It is a heavy wooden box with metal handles on each side and has a removable storage tray on top. It is made of metal and in surprisingly excellent condition for its age, other than normal wear and tear. The color is army green.