NOS tubes come in white boxes because most tubes were bought in bulk by manufacturers or large scale users of electronic equipment. They came in boxes of 100 or maybe even 500. Individually boxed tubes were a smaller piece of the market.
There are still new tubes around, a lot of them actually, but a lot of tubes sold as NOS are not.
There are still new tubes around, a lot of them actually, but a lot of tubes sold as NOS are not.