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Ditty Box

A wooden ditty box with ships at sea painted on the lid. In front of it is a strip of canvas with needles pierced through and well-worn, makeshift awl.

Collection of Naval Museum of Alberta, Calgary, Alberta, 2015.0001.001

Ditty Box, Canvas Needles and Fid, wood, paint, brass, 16.5 x 30.4 x 20.4 cm, Second World War

A ditty box is a sailor’s box for personal belongings, tools or other odds and ends. This box belonged to Clyde Elford who joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1939. The painting on the box was done by a sailor on HMCS Restigouche in 1940, who was later lost at sea.