Thanks for posting that
All this time, I was imagining something quite different, like a tea table you can put things inside, heheheee.
So it's essentially a wooden crate for packing.
I imagine that IF Marion packed belongings in such a crate, the contents would be very expensive and fragile. Like fine china. And the journey would be far. It would make no sense to pack anything else in there for a reasonably short trip. Especially a crate with metal seals!
There is zero percent chance a 'little old man' would be able to move a few crates like that filled with books. Or even a portly pilot in his fifties hauling them into a car. No way.
I once placed my books in a ceder chest to move because I ran out of boxes. Very bad idea. It took two young men AND and a trolly AND bungee cords AND the lift function of the truck AND a lot of time to move that thing. It's the same as moving a refrigerator!