Deep Dark Secrets of My Glove Box Revealed

The glove box. Also known as the "glove compartment" or the "jockey box". It's one feature that has remained standard on all vehicles for around 100 years. It may very well be the one part of our vehicles that we all take for granted. We rarely open our glove boxes unless we need to get something out of our way, or we get pulled over and need to show vehicle information. One thing's for sure, the glove box isn't just for gloves anymore.

Originally, the glove box was used for (prepare to be shocked) glove storage, mainly due to the fact that cars didn't come equipped with heaters, and gloves were necessary in order to keep from your hands freezing to the steering wheel on the way to church on Sunday mornings.

Now, the glove box has, for many of us, evolved into our junk drawer. Upon asking several coworkers what's in their glove box, only one could give me an itemized list as to what he had stored (and it did not include gloves). The rest of us should really take a few minutes to get to know the contents of this dashboard staple.

So I decided to take an inventory of my glove box. I think the last time I opened it was to toss a CD case in a couple weeks ago. The reason I think that is, the CD case was the first item to fall out when I opened it to make my list. There were actually 3 CD cases (all empty), an old cell phone, one turn signal bulb, a "Big E Pak" of gum, a short stack of my wife's business cards, my work I.D. badge, a few expired restaurant coupons, and a plastic baseball keychain. At the bottom of the pile was my car registration, and a large pile of expired insurance papers (the current, valid proof of insurance was on top).

No gloves, no sunglasses.

I'm a little ashamed of the mess, but it could have been worse. I've only had this car for a year, so I suppose it will be twice as cluttered if I make this an annual event.

What's in your glove box? Can you list all of the contents without looking?