What is a glove box or glove compartment?

 

The glove box is a small compartment installed in the dashboard in front of the passenger side seat which can hold small items like gloves or some papers or any other item you want to store in it, the glove box can be opened by lifting a latch and in few cars the gloves compartments have lock function as well.

The gloves box has always been an important part of car interior design you will find one in all cars made for any region, this drawer-like compartment will give you a utility to keep your essential items stored safely in a place where you can save them from sunlight and in some cars this compartment also has the water proofing ability in it.

 

A brief History of Gloves compartment

The glove box has a little interesting history, let us take you back in time, in early 1900 a Lady who has done wonders in his time namely Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt a renowned motorsports personality of her time who has the honor of becoming the first female racing driver in Great Britain.

Levitt was a very successful lady in the field of motorsports, she held various records at that time.

Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt was the first one who introduce the term “gloves compartment”.

She also held the honor to serve as a driving instructor of  Queen Alexandra.

Let us read her famous quote related to gloves box which she wrote in her book

“Regarding gloves — never wear woolen gloves, but gloves made of good soft kid. You will find room for these gloves in the little drawer under the seat of the car.”

— Dorothy Levitt, 1909

In her book she also recommends that car owners should carry a pair of gloves to handle various unforeseen situations, she also wrote in her book in which she advises commuters to carry a little hand mirror in an easy-to-access place to keep a check on the rearview from time to time.

In early era the vehicles were not equipped with rearview mirrors and most probably this will lead to the introduction of the rearview mirror in cars as a permanent feature.

Today the glove compartment has evolved to a whole new level and now it has various uses, in some cars the gloves box is divided into two portions one is used to store cold beverages to use chilled drinks as and when required because these gloves boxes are designed in a way to keep the drinks chilled while driving.

Who Introduce gloves box in cars?

In the early 1900s, the Packard Motorcar Company which was also known as the Ohio Automobile Company first introduced the glove box in the first-ever commercial vehicle. The manufacturer team has accepted the challenge of designing the motorized vehicle or horseless carriage.

The manufacturing team had performed their work immaculately they replace the front panel dashboard with a storage box that can be used for various purposes. Besides this, they change the complete look of the carriage by performing the best inside coachwork and upholstery work.

why is it called a glove box?

In the early days of the automobile when the design of cars was evolving, initially, the motorcar designs were inspired by luxurious carts which were operated by horses. These carts require gloves to operate the horses and to make sure that the operator’s hand will be safe from chilled winds and for the storage of these gloves, there was a separate compartment built in those cars to put in the gloves.

Initially, motor cars are not top-covered and for this reason, the requirement of wearing gloves is needed while driving because in cold weather the hands become stiff and in hot weather, the sweat on the hands makes it difficult to control the steering wheel.

Hence the gloves  create their demands in motorcars also and due to this requirement, the glove box or glove compartment was become the necessary feature in every car and this has been followed till today.

The glove box has been known by various other names in different parts of the world, in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and a few African regions the term cubby-hole is used instead of gloves box, the term cubby-hole is also used for glove box in some parts of Wyoming and Minnesota.

In some parts of Europe and a few states of the US the glove box is also called the jockey box.

What to keep in my glove box?

In today’s world, your car is like a mini home to you especially when you are on a long road trip or even if you are driving in your town, you just need some essential items to be with you even though your glove box is not big enough but still, it has ample space if managed properly. Here we would suggest some essential items to be kept in the glove box.

• First Aid Kit- First of all, you need to have a handy first aid kit and never forget to restock the items of first aid if you have use some items from it, the first aid kit will be very helpful not only for yourself but for the others as well, let suppose you are driving and suddenly you saw some one in need of some basic first aid then you can easily help the person in need.

 

• Emergency escape gadgets- In case you arrive in a situation of an accident and due to some damages to the car body you are unable to open the door to get out, in that case, you must have some emergency tools which can break the window glass and cut off the seat belts.

 

Besides this you can also store emergency flares in case you will be stranded in a lonely place then these flares will be a great help for you.

 

• Documents- You always need to keep some basic documents in your car, like registration papers, driving license, proof of insurance, and car manufacturer’s user manual,

 

It’s better to have a slim and sleek document case to put these documents in it due to this you will found all the documents in one case and they will also remain safe and the same time you will save some space in your gloves compartment.

 

• Personal Hygiene and safety products- recently we all witnessed the worst pandemic and as we all know the most powerful hack to avoid this virus is personal protective equipment which includes face masks and hand sanitizers.

 

As the pandemic is over but now onwards we always need to carry at least these two items face masks and hand sanitizers and to keep this stuff in a car you don’t have a better place to put them other than gloves box.

 

• Mobile phone charging accessories- It is often noted that people put their mobile phone chargers with wires wrapped around gear lever which is not a good idea to keep this thing, you can always put your mobile phone charger and connectors in the gloves compartment and keep the driving controls area neat.

 

• Utility Tools and gadgets- It is always a good idea to keep some basic utility tools like a Swiss Army knife, screwdriver set, or any other tools set, you don’t have an idea when and where you will need this.

 

• Torch light- You also need to place a good torch lite in your gloves box and always make sure to check its batteries time to time.

 

• Emergency contact details- You should have to keep your emergency contact details in your gloves box.

 

• Paper Map- sometimes while driving on freeways or suburban areas beside freeways you may stranded at a place where you can’t find good mobile signals or due to any reason you are unable to access maps on your mobile or car navigator, in this situation the paper map will be the best guide to drive you to the desired location safely.

Above are some basic items that can be stored in your glove box, you can add several items which can be stored, to cut short the glove box compartment will be the most important place in your car.

 

Conclusion

The car gloves compartment will be a great tool to give you an ease while driving and going out, if managed and use it properly you will never find yourself in a situation where you are helpless and cannot do anything to get out of a difficult situation.

A decent maintained gloves compartment will always be a sign of relief for drivers and passengers. So go ahead and start cleaning your gloves box and give it a new look by arranging in a manner that will aid you while driving.