In the old days, everything was shipped in wood boxes, crates or barrels either by horse n' wagon or by railroad.
Like cardboard boxes today, those wood containers became the property of the recipiant to do with however they wanted to.
Supposeldy, Henry Ford mandated specific dimensions, type of wood, etc. for one of the shipping containers a vendor had to make/use for shipping car parts to the factory. Upon receipt of the parts, they would unpack them, dismantle the wood crate and the boards were "pre-cut" and ready to be installed as the "floorboards" in the Model T's.
The above pictured box has reinforced corners which makes me think it was made to be a reuseable "shipping container". Like back n' forth between two locations.