WOW! WHAT A PACKAGE!

A Diversion from the Holiday Mall Craziness Leads To the Discovery of an Understated Package ‘Gem’

By David Luttenberger

Photo by Darryl Colling Elegant by design, complex by construction, the hand-made Bombay Sapphire rigid promotional box packs a lot of “Wow!" factor.

My name is David, and I am a packaging geek.

For those of us who admit to our addiction, Christmas and Hanukkah pose huge challenges. Simply walking through the mall can be a pain in the neck—literally. Okay, maybe I had become completely transfixed on the elaborate holiday display of rigid set-up boxes in the window at Victoria’s Secret. But the fact remains I pinched a nerve in my neck when my wife appeared from nowhere and dork-stamped me back to reality. That’s when I decided to head to the bar, wait for her to finish shopping, and avert further pain and suffering.

Being maybe my second time in a bar, I was amazed to see the lengths to which vintners and distillers go to differentiate one Chardonnay or vodka from another using shaped bottles, embossed labels, and unique dispensing closures. The bottles and packaging spanned the gamut from absurd to understated.

Somewhere near the north end of understated was where my eyes paused to admire one particular package. I admired this box not at all in the same way I professionally admired the red and pink boxes in the shop window at the mall.

This particular one, a drop-front, angled-lid, rigid display box, occupied a place of honor among the many bottles on the barkeep’s organized and backlit shelves. It was, after all, a “gift” from Bombay Spirits presented to just 1,000 bartenders across the country as a means to promote the premium Bombay Sapphire gin for martinis.

Inside the draped satin-lined, rigid construction by box maker Paul T. Freund Co., Palmyra, NY, was nestled a one-liter crystal bottle of the maker’s signature clear gin (it’s the bottle that’s blue), two right-size bottles of vermouth, and a contemporary, polished stainless steel shaker—for those who, like Mr. Bond, prefer theirs… Well, you know how he likes them.

Freund’s designer, Betty Rose, wrapped the 103-pt. binder’s board, supplied by Holland’s Kappa Co., in a man-made leatherette product called Vienna. For structural support in the base, Rose used 3/8" acid-free basswood.

According to Chet Baron, a veteran Freund accounts director, each box was painstakingly assembled by hand, a common practice among the fewer than 400 remaining rigid box makers in the United States. It took about an hour to assemble the box and insert the components. Each unit carries a production cost of about $30.

Many of those still plying the rigid box making craft are small “mom and pop” shops hanging on to what’s left of a once flourishing trade of making boxes for haberdasheries and custom clothiers. Today, the cosmetics, confections, and liquor industries are the last—albeit high-end—bastions of the format. However, Baron says archival preservation, portfolio, and keepsake boxes are the few areas still showing growth.

For all its complexity of construction, the Bombay Sapphire rigid box is an understated but appreciated gem—a masterpiece of packaging art and design. Plus, if you enjoy the product contained within responsibly, it’s a lot safer than staring at Victoria’s Secret boxes.

David Luttenberger, a certified packaging professional (CPP), is the director of Packaging Strategies, an intelligence briefing service for packaging markets, technologies, and businesses. He can be reached at (610) 436-4220 (ext. 18) or at dluttenberger@packstrat.com.