Today's Friday's Find brings joy and sadness. First, joy- because I love the crate and can't wait to use it in some decorating form. Second, sadness- because when our son, Quintin, and I found the crate in an old barn we were cleaning out, we only nabbed two of probably 50 crates. Quintin, a college student at Clemson, wanted to take the crates to school and use them for who knows what. NO WAY! They were staying with me!

After doing a little research on the crate, I found out the crates were used by The National Beer Company in Baltimore, Maryland to transport their National Bohemian Beer. The beer, known as "Natty Boh" or "National Boh" was first brewed in 1885, but is now brewed by the Miller Brewing Company in North Carolina.

As a reference to the Chesapeake Bay area, the slogan for the Bohemian style beer was "From the Land of Pleasant Living". Mr. Boh, the companies one-eyed, handle-bar styled mustached mascot (as seen on the crate) was retired in the early sixties, but is now considered the area's "unofficial mascot". A neon sign of Mr. Boh now sits atop the former Brewery which has since been converted into the multi-million dollar office and apartment complex known as Natty Boh Towers. 

When I was doing some research on the crates, I found this interesting bit of information - New Zealand kiwis have come up with a way to celebrate the first day of summer. National Crate Day! It takes place December 1st, 2012. The concept is to grab a crate of beer, get together with your mates, dust off the "barbie" and share the crate have a good time. http://www.facebook.com/NationalCrateDay/posts/407781832616819#!/NationalCrateDay

Here are some "crate" ideas for some crates:) Click on the photos for links to the websites.

Here is a link to our pinterest page for other ideas

http://pinterest.com/carolinafarmse/re-purposed/