Keep Taking The Tablets!

 What do you think of when you hear the word pillbox?

1 a box for pills, especially a shallow round box
2 a small low concrete emplacement for machine guns and antitank weapons
3 a small round hat without a brim with a flat crown and straight sides

Obviously, 2 and 3 got their names because they resembled the medicine containers. Swanton Morley had three WW2 pillboxes, including a listed "Pickett-Hamilton Fort" . 

Situated on the runway, this is a retractable construction set in a concrete 'sleeve'. When the runway was in use, it was wound down to ground level, then wound up again to be used as a lookout/gun emplacement.

When I was six, I thought Jackie Kennedy was the most glamorous woman in the world, and decided that when I grew up, I would buy myself a pillbox hat and wear it proudly. 65 years later, I have to say I have yet to do this.

We never really had pillboxes at home, when I was growing up. My Mum had an array of brown glass bottles [later plastic] containing all her various tablets. Each one had a mysterious ball of cotton wool in the top. This was to stop the pills being damaged during shipping, and the practice began in the 1900s, but by the end of the 20th century pills were much less fragile. Nowadays all our pills come in blister packs. I wait till we have a bag full and take them to Tony at church, who recycles them for charity. 

But last week I bought myself a real pillbox.  It was £2 on a bric-a-brac stall on the market. It is small and round, 4cm diameter, with a lovely enamelled Rennie Mackintosh design on top, and inside has three sections. It was just the right size to hold three days worth of my meds for the weekend conference. Isn't it sweet? It looked very classy on my bedside cupboard. I wonder if Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis ever had a pillbox like this?

Do you use a pillbox? Or a dosette box with compartments for the seven days of the week? Have you ever had a pillbox hat?