Wednesday, November 14, 2012

What Is It?

It's not a Hoosier cabinet and there are no upper doors. We bought it in the early 1980s in an antique store. I don't know what it is but wonder if it might have been used in a cafe. The working space is a porcelain top, and the metal base has a small drawer and a door that drops down to hold all my cookie sheets and muffin tins. Two metal shelves are attached to the top. Here is a picture of it:


It's impossible for us to get a full-on picture of this cabinet as it sits in a narrow space meant to be the refrigerator nook when we built the new kitchen. When the refrigerator sat properly in its nook, this cabinet sat beside it, acting somewhat as a room divider between the family room and kitchen. The one photograph I could find of the area at that time shows my sweet mother with her hand on this cabinet, my sister Teresa by it, and our sister Jenn sitting on the sofa arm. (Sorry Jenn, but you're still beautiful even with your eyes closed!)


Then the refrigerator quit on us and I fell for a large one with the freezer on the bottom. No more stooping to find forgotten food in the bottom of the refrigerator. I love it but it did not fit in the nook so it swapped places with the antique cabinet.



It holds my yellow mixer and the old black scales that R.H. used to weight grass seed at the garden center he and his brother owned back in the 1970s. Before that it was used for years in my father's garden center and was an antique even then. It is accurate, had to be since a nice man from the state came around regularly back then to make sure it was.


A few special cookbooks are on the metal shelves including one from my mother, a 1951 copy of Stove Pilot, recipes from Maxwell Air Force Base wives, where my parents were once stationed. This little cookbook gives the impression that a good Air Force wife knew that the way to help advance her husband's career was to keep him well fed, to entertain brilliantly, and flatter his commanding officer....and their daughters and granddaughters probably became the feminists of the 1970s. Think of that!

Alongside is another book, not a cookbook but a perfect green color, a 1952 children's book by Leonard Wisgard called The Clean Pig. Sure, E.B. White's Charlotte is some pig but the clean pig is special too. If you ever have a messy house and need a little motivation to clean, just read The Clean Pig and you'll be up and at 'em. Could possibly even change the habits of a messy child.


Please notice the old photographs of two handsome men on the cabinet. On the top shelf is a photograph of my grandfather, a butcher by trade in South Carolina. On the lower shelf is a photograph of my father, a grill master. He and my mother put mouthwatering meals on the plates of family and friends for nearly 60 years. I like being reminded of the grandfather I never knew and of my father who must either be cooking or gardening in heaven, or maybe telling one of his good stories.


So there it is, an old kitchen cabinet, not a Hoosier. What in the world is it?



19 comments:

  1. Don't know what that is!! I have a Hoosier cabinet and it doesn't look like the bottom of mine. They used to make alot of kitchen cabinets with the porcelain tops, so I don't know. But I love it!!

    Judy

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  2. Thank you, Judy. Glad you like it. Guess I'll keep searching for an answer!

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  3. I don't know what it is either, but if you decide you don't like it anymore, you just call me because I LOVE IT! LOVE those black and white floors too. I would love to come shopping at your home.
    I got your latest comment, and it was sooo sweet. Thanks for dropping by.

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  4. Well, thank you, Teresa. And I sure know what my husband would say about getting rid of the cabinet; he'd swap it in a minute for that red truck of your husband's! Somehow I don't think that would be a deal. Black and white floors forever!

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  5. Oh, it's so pretty! I'm afraid I can't tell you what it is but it sure looks lovely, vintage and useful, besides!

    xo
    Claudia

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  6. Hi Claudia, yes it is useful, practically indestructible. I think it might have been used commercially rather than in a home. I can pretend it came our of a pie diner!

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  7. I am not sure what its purpose was, but what a beautiful cabinet! Anytime I see an old cabinet I want to buy it... I just love them! :-)

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  8. Yes, before we built the new kitchen I tried to talk my husband into just having old cabinets and cupboards around the walls instead of cabinets and countertops. I still think it would be charming but not as practical.

    And congratulations again on winning Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger Award! So exciting! I bet you're brimming with new ideas now. Can't wait for Christmas at your farmhouse!

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  9. That is one sweet kitchen!! Love the floors!! I have never seen a cabinet like that one its a keeper for sure!!! great post..

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    1. Thank you, Marissa.I'm glad you like the floor. It needs mopping constantly but is worth it. Dogs, cats and man boots track mud in but they're worth it too!

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  10. I don't know what it is, but it is a great piece, and I love all the vintage treasures you have on it. Your kitchen looks like such a great gathering place - so warm and inviting. laurie

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    1. Thank you, Laurie. Like you, we love something better if it is a bargain! Makes it all that sweeter.

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  11. Hmmm... Ok, let's start the bidding out at $100,000 lol

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    1. Gurn, that would be 100 x what I paid for it!

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    2. Wow mom,you paid $1000 for that thing? It must be silver plated. :o)

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    3. Obviously, I am weak when it comes to my 000s. No, it was $100 and R.H. almost fainted at that amount. But now he's over it, finally.

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  12. It is surely loved! What fun it would be to spend a day/weekend on a treasure hunt with you. Seems we both enjoy all things old and well-loved...

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  13. So excited to see you here! I envied you that Franklin trip you took. Yes, let's try to treasure hunt together. Well we both learned to love pretty things from the same woman so we should have known! Love you!

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  14. Hi Dewena,

    Okay, I can't christen this gorgeous piece of furniture for you, BUT if I could, I'd probably call it something like, the 'Perfect Porcelain Pantry'! What style, character and practicality! I have bought several items and customized them to my needs and have found that this flexibility has proven fruitful and fun! Isn't it exciting and rewarding to know that we can use such unique pieces in a variety of ways that ultimately define our spaces and infuse individuality and make them memorable?

    Poppy

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