The collector:  Shakil Huq, Artist, Interior Designer - (General Manager at Media Box), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The collection: Toothpaste packets (empty)

The story behind the collection...

I always wanted to collect something really unusual and all the time I used to think about that. It was at the beginning of 2012 my daughter Tanisha gave me a toothpaste packet called 'Mr Darlie’ as a present. That packet was on my reading table for 2 to 3 days. Suddenly I noticed the outer box of the toothpaste was really rather beautiful. I thought toothpaste packets could be a collectable thing! I started searching on the internet but there are none out there. I have found only one gentleman from the USA who collects toothpaste tubes only. So I believe I am the only collector of toothpaste packets.

I have been collecting for the last 8 months and already have more than 400 packets from over 40 countries.

I would like to see my name in the Guinness book of world records and I want to make a new record with my toothpaste packet collection. I particularly like the boxes because of their narrow shape and also that they often come with various designs and art work. It’s really an unusual item for a collection.

I like mostly toothpaste packets from Asian countries, with their own language written on the box.

My collected items require a lot of space to store them (as I collect some other items too). So I keep them in boxes. I dream that one day I will be able to create my own museum and therefore be able to display all of my collection. I have a couple of display shelves and already have several hundred boxes on them.

There are still quite a lot of packets missing and I am working on getting them. Basically I am looking for very old toothpaste packets... like from 1960s. For my record I need to collect at least one packet from each country.

It’s very important to exchange or trade your collection. You can always get something new for your collection that way. There are many collectors’ communities and clubs around the world but unfortunately there is no particular community or club for toothpaste packet collectors.

I also collect old toothpaste advertising as part of my collection, as well as any giveaway items on toothpaste too.

Besides toothpaste packets I also have a large collection of matchboxes and labels (over 13,000).

Visit Shakil's toothpaste box collection website here
You can view Shakil's matchbox collection here

Images © Shakil Huq and used with his kind perrmission