Yesterday I happened to mention my
Hoosier cabinet on a facebook post.
My friend, Olivia, in Germany, asked,
"What is a Hoosier cabinet?"
Oh, Olivia! Not only do I have a
Hoosier cabinet but, it comes with
a great story.
First, let's address what a Hoosier
cabinet is. The Hoosier Manufacturing
Company in New Castle, Indiana made
furniture for the kitchen. Years ago,
kitchens did not have built-in cabinets
so you had furniture made specifically
for the kitchen. Hoosier cabinets were
a one stop cabinet, they had storage, a flour
sifter, a bread drawer, and a work surface.
So, now we'll get to MY Hoosier
cabinet. Years ago when my Aunt
Jane & Uncle Bob bought an older home
on Grove Street in Rahway, NJ there was
a Hoosier cabinet in the kitchen. I first
remember this cabinet as the dress-up
cabinet that was in the garage. As you can
see in the above photo, we all loved to
dress-up! Yeah, that's me, front row right.
So, years go by and I grow up and
my aunt and uncle were down-sizing
and having a garage sale. Someone
came to the sale and happened to spot
the cabinet and made an offer to buy it.
My Aunt Jane called me and asked if
I knew what a Hoosier cabinet was?
I said, of course! They are great old
cabinets, etc. etc....
To make a long story short, my aunt
gave me the cabinet. Rob & I scraped
off all the paint and restored it and it
has been one of our prized possessions
ever since. At that time we would never
have dreamed that one day we would
live in Indiana. But now, we live a half
an hour away from where the cabinet
was made. Aunt Jane said, we brought
it home.
I have seen other Hoosier cabinets
that are much more decked out than
ours but to me they can't compared.
And it just so happens that today is
my Aunt Jane's birthday. So please
join me in wishing Aunt Jane
A Very Happy Birthday!
I also have a Sellers cabinet
but that's another story...