Culture Carton is a monthly lifestyle box for men. Each month you’ll receive 3-5 curated lifestyle items and a book they think "every man should read," selected to enhance your gentlemanly status. They have three subscription options:
- Standard - Lifestyle items and a book for $45/month + shipping
- Essential - Just the lifestyle items for $35/month + shipping
- Book Club - One book sent monthly for $16/month + shipping
This is a review of the Standard Culture Carton for $45/month + shipping.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About this Men's Lifestyle Subscription
The Subscription Box: Culture Carton
The Cost: $45 a month + shipping. Other options available.
ACTIVE DEAL: Free shipping on all orders over $100
CODE: FREESHIPPING
The Products: A curated selection of 3-5 men’s lifestyle items and a book “that belongs on every man’s bookshelf.”
Ships to: The US for a varied cost.
Culture Carton Review June 2020
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Culture Carton came with an info card that lists the items in the box this month. June's items were selected to help keep you organized on the go!
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Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - Listed Value $15, Retail Value $6.20
I read this book many years ago and loved it! I was surprised when my husband said he had never read it before. Now we have a copy for both us to enjoy! This novel is on the shorter side, making it easy to read and perfect for the summer. I think this book is very fitting to receive given everything that is going on currently in the US. As we follow Charles Marlow through the Congo, we see the horrors of racism and colonialism. It is truly a wonderful work of literature that I am really excited to visit again!
From Amazon:
Heart of Darkness (1899) is a short novel by Polish novelist Joseph Conrad, written as a frame narrative, about Charles Marlow's experience as an ivory transporter down the Congo River in Central Africa. The river is "a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land". In the course of his travel in central Africa, Marlow becomes obsessed with Mr. Kurtz. The story is a complex exploration of the attitudes people hold on what constitutes a barbarian versus a civilized society and the attitudes on colonialism and racism that were part and parcel of European imperialism. Originally published as a three-part serial story, in Blackwood's Magazine, the novella Heart of Darkness has been variously published and translated into many languages. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Heart of Darkness as the sixty-seventh of the hundred best novels in English of the twentieth century.
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Kiko Leather Tech-Folio - Retail Value $95.00
This is the big-ticket item of the month and my goodness is it gorgeous! I always get excited when I see a product bag because I know something extra fancy is going to be inside. When I slipped the leather tech-folio out of the Kiko bag I literally said, "oh my, oh wow!" This folio is gorgeous measuring in at 13" (11.5" L x 14.5" W). The leather is like butter and I love that it came in black, so sleek, making it perfectly unisex. Inside there is room for your computer with a snap closure, a pocket with a zipper, and a few other small compartments. You really can stay completely organized in this one folio! Unfortunately, my husband's work requires him to have two big desk monitors so he doesn't own a laptop anymore. I really wanted to keep this for myself, but I don't have a full-time office job and I didn't want this beauty to just sit in my office all day long. It needs to be seen! I decided to gift this incredible folio to my sister-in-law that just started back to work after maternity leave from her first baby. She was blown away by the gift and is so excited to get it all organized for back to work!
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Palomino Blackwing Pearl Pencils - Listed Value $6.00 (Buy a set of 12 here for $24.95)
My husband loves to draw. He used to sketch a lot when he was younger then moved away from it for many years, but now is back into it drawing pictures for our son. He was really excited to see these beautiful pearl pencils this month, and even ordered a new pencil sharpener for them. These are currently being stored in our son's art table so that they can work on drawings together with their fancy new pencils. The eraser at the top works really well without any messes!
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Doane Paper Large Flap Jotter - Retail Value $9.00
I am sort of a sucker for paper jotters like this one. I mean, seriously, it is so sleek, looking like something out of a Mad Men set. The paper has a grid and lines and is made using soy-based inks. The jotter itself is 5.5" x 8.5" and fits perfectly into the leather folio even with a laptop. I haven't decided if I want to display this in our office with a few other vintage pieces I have or if I want to use this for note-taking. Either way, it is a really special item that I was excited to see this month!
The Verdict: Culture Carton was an amazing box that not only did my husband love but I loved as well. Honestly, the items this month made my heart sing! It felt like this amazing curation revolved completely around that leather folio. The dark cover of Heart of Darkness completed the entire unboxing process and has found a spot on our bookshelf in anticipation of my husband and me diving into the deep pages very soon. Each item felt like a high-quality piece, even the pencils felt special. The folio didn't work perfectly for my husband or me but I was so excited to gift it to my sister-in-law that will get a lot of use out of it over the years. The total retail value of this box is an estimated $116.20 which is pretty amazing for the $53.27 cost. To me, this box is all about the curation, it really was inspiring going through each product as they all fit so perfectly together. My husband was in love with this box and so was I! If you are looking for a gift for a husband, boyfriend, boss, or friend, then look no further—this box has it all, in my opinion!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you'll receive the August box as your first box.
Orders placed before the 15th of the month will be shipped on 15th-17th of the month. All orders placed after the 15th will ship the following month.
ACTIVE DEAL: Free shipping on all orders over $100
CODE: FREESHIPPING
Value Breakdown: The box costs $53.27 ($45.00 + $8.27 shipping to Pittsburgh), which means that each of the 4 items in the box has an average cost of $13.31.
Check out all of our Culture Carton reviews and see what the best men's subscription boxes of 2020 are, as voted on by our readers!
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What are your thoughts on this month's Culture Carton?
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