Ma…brought out a stationery box, old and soiled and cracked at the corners. She sat down and opened the box. Inside were letters, clippings, photographs, a pair of earrings, a little gold signet ring, and a watch chain braided of hair and tipped with gold swivels. She bit her lower lip, thinking, remembering. And at last she made up her mind. She picked out the ring, the watch charm, the earrings, dug under the pile and found one gold cuff link. She took a letter from an envelope and dropped the trinkets in the envelope…She lifted the stove lid and laid the box gently among the coals. Quickly the heat browned the paper. A flame licked up and over the box.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 10. Ma Joad removes her most important jewelry from her stationary box to bring with her on her family’s flight west. This will mean that she has something of monetary value, if funds become tighter later on. Ma then burns what’s left of her box of memories, including letters, clippings and photographs.