About Book Safes

About Book Safes

Nancy Drew Holllow Book

What is a Book Safe?

Whether its called a Book Safe, Book Box, Stash Book, Secret Hollow Book, or Secret Safe Book, a bookbox is a real book that has been hollowed out to create a hidden storage area inside. We didn’t invent the process – the idea of creating hidden storage inside an everyday object like a book has been around since bibles were printed! But we have perfected the process over 15 years of craftsmanship to create a bookbox that is sturdy and lasts indefinitely!

You can use a bookbox to:
  • Give as a gift. Eco-friendly and unique, you can probably find a title here that is PERFECT for your hard-to-buy-for friend.
  • Use as a container for another special gift inside. An extra element of surprise and delight! Wrap up a special family recipe for your adult children and place inside a book on cooking… A handmade fly inside a book on fishing… you get the picture!
  • Conceal valuables on your bookshelf in plain sight
  • Hide things like passports and money while traveling
  • Hold that special folding saw that will get you out of prison just like in the movies…

Where do Book Boxes come from?

We head to the book sales!  Especially The Rotary Club's semi annual sale, a non-profit group who distribute the proceeds of their book sales to the local community. We purchase books at the regular price, and also take books they haven’t been able to sell and don’t have the ability to store. We bring in Antique books from re-sellers that are overstocked. In our local area only one company accepts hardcover books for recycling and they are located in a different town! More books end up in the landfill than we’d like to think about. Over the years thousands of books have been saved from the dump.

Book Safe saw

What's acceptable for a used book to be a Book Box?

It’s a fine line to sell book boxes made from used books that don’t look too beaten up! Sometimes the best-loved books are the most tattered. We’d never refuse an old book on Shakespeare, but would think twice about a beaten up book on Microwave cooking from the 70’s! But even then, somebody wants an "ugly" book to stash valuables.

We will make bookboxes from books that have:

  • Inscriptions written on the inside front pages
  • Minor wrinkling to the jacket
  • Library stamps and library cards, previous owner notes
  • Sun-faded covers – especially antiques
  • The occasional chocolate fingerprint (especially Harry Potter books)

We will not use books that have:

  • Any hint of mildew or odour
  • Rips on the jacket longer than 1/4"
  • Obvious stains and dirt on the pages or jacket.

And we'll always let you know on the listing if there are marks that might be objectionable to some.

The Process

After 15 years, we have perfected the production of Book Safes. Your bookbox will look good and stand up to everyday use. You'll use it so much the first thing to go will probably be the hinge on the front cover - in other words, the book itself, not the construction of the book safe!  We know the glues and the formulations that work. They won’t go yellow over time; they won’t get fragile over time.Every bookbox is made by hand. Every bookbox is subject to five separate processes and takes about 5 days to complete. We use nothing but eco-friendly glue, paper and a saw to transform a book into a bookbox. The key is the method - and that's secret! Since each Bookbox is cut by hand, you will see minor variations in each one. We think this adds to their charm and uniqueness.



Size Matters

We know that sometimes you need your Book Safe to have a specific size interior, so we measure every one by hand for the product listing.  We also CATEGORIZE into size groups (S, M, L, XL, XXL)  It's all about the total area inside, so it's a challenge because some books are tall, but thin, and others are short and fat. 

Book Safe dimensions

But they still have the same area inside! Generally VINTAGE books are smaller than TRADITIONAL books.

For instance a Large VINTAGE book will be smaller than a Large TRADITIONAL book.

Give one as a gift, you'll always know where the stash is!