Confessional

[wobs]

...and any protruding wooden decoration should be hacked off to fit it.

I hope it wasn't you that did this to my woodwork:

http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10561&p=135499&hilit=swear#p135499

 

[Lime]

I've sometimes wondered, a phrase which I've often heard but never quite understood - what exactly does the phrase "chocolate box" refer to, with reference to houses?

It harks back to a time almost forgotten.
The last time I bought a "proper" chocolate box (not just a big box but decorated with ribbon and ornately finished) was in the early 70s from a specialist sweet shop.

In years gone by the boxes were kept to store love letters, family photographs and other keepsakes.
They were really very sturdy decorated boxes along feminine lines.

 

[Penners]

They were really very sturdy decorated boxes along feminine lines.

You clearly know more sturdy, decorated females than I do, Lime.

 

[Zebra]

The last time I bought a "proper" chocolate box (not just a big box but decorated with ribbon and ornately finished) was in the early 70s from a specialist sweet shop.

Ah that explains it. My earliest memories of chocolate boxes were the Man with the Milk Tray adverts from the telly, and Quality Street at Christmas. Never seen one with a house on.

 

[Lime]

The last time I bought a "proper" chocolate box (not just a big box but decorated with ribbon and ornately finished) was in the early 70s from a specialist sweet shop.

Ah that explains it. My earliest memories of chocolate boxes were the Man with the Milk Tray adverts from the telly, and Quality Street at Christmas. Never seen one with a house on.

Ah! I see what you mean.
It is not a house or cottage that was on the chocolate box that gave "a chocolate box cottage" its name.
(although sometimes the theme was of a building)
It is the floral adornment on the old chocolate boxes coupled with all the feminine-like features (sorry to sound sexist) of ribbons, bows, often soft, curvy cushions on the lid and sides, covered in silk-like material and the pastel colours that the name refers to.
If you look at the cottage above in Penners' post you can see what is meant by the flowers and plants all around the cottage.
It is almost hidden behind them with the curvy thatch giving the impression of a soft cushioned "lid".

Boxes of chocolates used to come in all shapes and sizes. I recall eating chocolates from boxes the size of a small table (2 x 3 ft).
A picture of what I would call a traditional chocolate box is very hard to find on the internet.
I can find none that quite come upto the mark.
I gives some links to give a flavour of what I mean.
In this link you can see that the box was often a fancy shape and gives you an idea of how flowers were used.
https://vintage-home.co.uk/search.php?search=Dewhurst_s_Sylko_Threads_and_Box_&code=ac371
(click on pretty floral vintage choc box)

They could be any sort of scene:
http://www.steptoesantiques.co.uk/acatalog/info_7252Tm.html
http://vintage-maison.blogspot.com/2011/10/1950s-christmas-chocolate-boxes.html
http://www.theoxfordteaparty.com/item_2971/Vintage-Chocolate-Box--1930s-with-Lilac-Ribbon.htm

or shape:
http://www.retonthenet.co.uk/vintage-chocolate-box-joseph-terry--co-ltd-york-terrys-dome-top-chest-classic-scene-1960s-1493-p.asp
http://atreasuredpast.blogspot.com/2010/08/collections-vintage-chocolate-boxes.html
http://homesweethomestyle.com/productinfo.php?product=1514&PHPSESSID=40fc89efc24808d063a3f6f594351825
http://posy.typepad.com/posy/2007/11/post.html

Unfortunately none can be found that truly remind me of the really fancy chocolate boxes of my youth.