Editing Calvin and Hobbes (section)

===Cardboard boxes===
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[[File:Scientific Progress Goes Boink (Calvin and Hobbes).jpg|thumb|Calvin duplicating himself using a cardboard box, as seen on the cover of ''Scientific Progress Goes "Boink"'']]
Calvin also has several adventures involving corrugated [[cardboard box]]es, which he adapts for many imaginative and elaborate uses. In one strip, when Calvin shows off his Transmogrifier, a device that transforms its user into any desired creature or item, Hobbes remarks, "It's amazing what they do with corrugated cardboard these days."<ref name="watterson1988_p229">{{cite book |last=Watterson |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Watterson |title=The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury |year=1988 |publisher=Andrews and McMeel |location=Kansas City, Missouri |isbn=0-8362-1805-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/essentialcalvinh00watt_1/page/229 229] |title-link=List of Calvin and Hobbes books }}</ref> Calvin is able to change the function of the boxes by rewriting the label and flipping the box onto another side. In this way, a box can be used not only for its conventional purposes (a storage container for water balloons, for example), but also as a flying [[Time travel|time machine]], a duplicator, a transmogrifier or, with the attachment of a few wires and a colander, a "Cerebral Enhance-o-tron."

In the real world, Calvin's antics with his box have had varying effects. When he transmogrified into a tiger, he still appeared as a regular human child to his parents. However, in a story where he made several duplicates of himself, his parents are seen interacting with what does seem like multiple Calvins, including in a strip where two of him are seen in the same panel as his father. It is ultimately unknown what his parents do or do not see, as Calvin tries to hide most of his creations (or conceal their effects) so as not to traumatize them.

In addition, Calvin uses a cardboard box as a sidewalk kiosk to sell things. Often, Calvin offers merchandise no one would want, such as "suicide drink", "a swift kick in the butt" for one dollar<ref>[[#CITEREFWatterson1995|Watterson (1995)]], p. 172.</ref> or a "frank appraisal of your looks" for fifty cents. In one strip, he sells "happiness" for ten cents, hitting the customer in the face with a water balloon and explaining that he meant his own happiness.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Watterson |first1=Bill |title=July 8, 1995 |url=https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/07/08 |website=GoComics |language=en |date=8 July 1995 |ref=none}}</ref> In another strip, he sold "insurance", [[Protection racket|firing a slingshot at those who refused to buy it]]. In some strips, he tried to sell "great ideas" and, in one earlier strip, he attempted to sell the family car to obtain money for a grenade launcher. In yet another strip, he sells "life" for five cents, where the customer receives nothing in return, which, in Calvin's opinion, is life.

The box has also functioned as an alternate secret meeting place for G.R.O.S.S., as the "Box of Secrecy".
[[File:Calvin and Hobbes playing Calvinball.jpg|thumb|296x296px|Calvin and Hobbes playing Calvinball with an assortment of sporting equipment]]