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Humble beginnings for pine furniture
In Britain at least, pine furniture was originally intended for the poorer end of the furniture buying spectrum.  People of affluence commissioned their furniture from cabinet makers and would have it made in a hardwood such as oak or, if they could afford it, mahogany.  It is doubtful whether they would even have used a blanket box, whether a pine blanket box or any other kind, as their bed linen is unlikely to have been stored in such an item.  

Pine was imported in large quantities as a cheap timber for various purposes and sometimes furniture made from this timber would be referred to as deal.  This term originally applied to the quantity of timber being traded, the original dimensions of which were 7ins wide, 3ins thick and 6 feet in length.  A deal was usually pine but could also apply to spruce and fir trees, which are also fast growing coniferous trees found in many of the same regions as pines.   

Deal or pine blanket boxes would have been bought by the upper working class or lower middle class in Victorian Britain but the very poorest would have found the price of even a pine blanket box unachievable and, with almost nothing to put in it, pointless.  Wealthier sections of society might have purchased pine blanket boxes but these would not have been for their own use but for their army of household servants.

A new age for pine furniture
The established social order of Victorian and Edwardian Britain was all but obliterated by two successive global conflicts, along with large parts of Britain’s industrial towns.  As a result there was a major programme of regeneration in the 1950s.  The urge for everyone to have access to clean, light living conditions meant that many dark, gloomy, buildings of the Victorian era were swept away and replaced with modern blocks of flats.  Dark, heavy ornate Victorian furniture became unfashionable and pine began its inexorable rise in popularity.   

Pine was seen as light and fresh and it fitted perfectly with the general desire for a new style of living.  Towards the end of the 1960s it was realised that much of the dark Victorian furniture from farmhouse and country cottage sales was actually pine furniture obscured under years of accumulated dirt and wax polish.  When this furniture, including many pine blanket boxes, was cleaned back to the bare wood it had an attractive light colour, which had been mellowed by age.  The age of stripped pine furniture had arrived.   

The birth of stripped pine
An aspect of all wooden furniture, and of pine furniture in particular, that sometimes causes confusion is the fact that it changes colour as it ages.  New pine furniture is almost white in colour but as time passes atmospheric conditions cause the wood to darken and yellow.  It is an inevitable part of the process and all wax, lacquer and other finishes will exacerbate this effect to a greater or lesser degree.    

The colour of a pine blanket box
Problems may arise when, for example, a pine blanket box is purchased, followed some years later by another item of pine bedroom furniture from exactly the same range.  When the new item is delivered there may be, to the consternation of the purchaser, a disparity in colour between the two.  They will not have noticed the gradual change in colour of existing pieces during their years of ownership.  Fortunately, within perhaps a few months to a year, the contrast between the two colours will reduce significantly.