the.com/medicine chest
A shrine to past ailments, where expired courage and dried-up hope reside.
means A cabinet or box, usually in a bathroom, where you store medicines, bandages, and first-aid supplies — and where half the contents are years past their expiry date.
from Straightforward compound: 'medicine,' from Latin medicina (the art of healing, from mederi, 'to heal' or 'to take care of'), joined with 'chest' in its old sense of a sturdy storage box or container — the same 'chest' as in treasure chest. Household medicine chests became common furnishings as bottled remedies and pharmacy-made medicines proliferated, giving families a dedicated place to keep tinctures, salves, and pills close at hand rather than scattered through the house.
- average contents
- mostly expired, half unidentifiable
- original purpose
- separate poisons from food storage
- bathroom location
- worst spot, humidity destroys pills fast
- hoarding instinct
- keeps pills for diseases already cured