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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: BPoland on March 26, 2013, 09:04:08 AM
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Trying to find any information about this Hoosier style cabinet. It has a metal top to it and has the sow belly bins. It does not have any tags on it that I can find. This was my wife's grandmothers cabinet and she inherited it when her grandmother passed away. We are having it restored and would like to find out some more information about it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
Bryce
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It isn`t a true Hoosier style as we know it,, but it is a country cupboard from the 1930`s !! These were made by many mfrs !! In the 1930`s and into the 40`s the trend was to streamline and modernize and most everything in the kitchen went up on legs !! Stoves and refrigerators included !! Hoosiers were less popular as cabinets were starting to be built in kitchens so the lady of the house no longer needed some of the Hoosiers features !! A nice little cabinet though and as a family piece well worth restoring !!
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It isn`t a true Hoosier style as we know it,, but it is a country cupboard from the 1930`s !! These were made by many mfrs !! In the 1930`s and into the 40`s the trend was to streamline and modernize and most everything in the kitchen went up on legs !! Stoves and refrigerators included !! Hoosiers were less popular as cabinets were starting to be built in kitchens so the lady of the house no longer needed some of the Hoosiers features !! A nice little cabinet though and as a family piece well worth restoring !!
Is there any information on these types of cabinets? Would like to see what colors they were painted back in the day so that we can keep it somewhat original. Any idea on a value of this piece? Thank you for any help. It would be neat to find the history on this. Thanks again.
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Not that I have seen online ,, if you knew where your family purchased it there might be old ads from that store you could pull up !! Only color I have seen them in is white with tiny red or black pin striping around drawers/doors and some had a floral decal in center of doors !! Sometimes the pulls matched the striping and were also red/black !! Slightly deeper color red than fire engine red !!
Not a lot of value in these,,, about $100. or less in most areas
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Not that I have seen online ,, if you knew where your family purchased it there might be old ads from that store you could pull up !! Only color I have seen them in is white with tiny red or black pin striping around drawers/doors and some had a floral decal in center of doors !! Sometimes the pulls matched the striping and were also red/black !! Slightly deeper color red than fire engine red !!
Not a lot of value in these,,, about $100. or less in most areas
Thank you for the help. I will see what I can find out and let you know. Talk to you later.
Bryce
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Nice old cupboard to still have in the family.
Knowing that furniture descriptions are regional...in my area these are referred to as "Baker's Cupboards / Cabinets". I've always assumed that the later "Hoosier style" cupboard evolved from these simpler designs.
It's possible that factory painted models of this style were offered at the time, although I have never seen one. ???
Here's a little background information:
http://maryeaudet.hubpages.com/hub/Hoosier-Cabinet (http://maryeaudet.hubpages.com/hub/Hoosier-Cabinet)
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Yes Rauville,, these were painted many time over during the years !! Have see one or two that still had part of the original paint left !! I helped a dealer in the next town with her shop while she had Chemo and she had two that she used back to back in her shop for display of graniteware !!
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Mart;
Yes, I've seen any number of the 1920's - 30's cupboards that had their factory paint jobs. But, I was referring to the earlier "possum bellies" like the one in question. In my defense, I live a rather sheltered life. 8)
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http://maryeaudet.hubpages.com/hub/Hoosier-Cabinet#
I stand corrected !! According to this person, the Hoosier did evolve from the bakers cabinet !! Although they were both in use in 20`s, 30` and 40`s !!
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Guys,
Thanks for the help. I do appreciate it. I was told that this might be before the "hoosier" era but I had never seen anything like this. It will get passed on in the family as we get it refinished and learn more about it. It is a cool piece. I have plenty of old antique kitchen utensils to fill it up with! I will try and remember to post pics when I get it back. Thanks again. Talk to you soon.
PS. If you come across any other information related to the "bakers cabinets", please pass along. I would really appreciate.
bryce
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I will look more tomorrow !! Post pics when its finished !! Would love to see it !!
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BPoland.......first ly, welcome to the forum!
You might want to check out Tales (talesofthesevenseas) post from the Projects section. We got to follow her purchase of a baker's cabinet/possum belly hoosier from finding it right through to it's transformation.
http://www.antique-shop.com/forums/index.php?topic=6351.0
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It has a metal top to it
BPoland, is the metal top .... tin over wood, and if so, does it look original or like it was installed by a homeowner?
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Didn`t the earlier ones have an enameled top ??
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Mart;
Yes, I've seen any number of the 1920's - 30's cupboards that had their factory paint jobs. But, I was referring to the earlier "possum bellies" like the one in question. In my defense, I live a rather sheltered life. 8)
Why am I not surprised....it,ll be that big book of yours,.. :D
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Cogar, it is a metal top and looks to be original.
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I know exactly what you've got because I have one and it was assessed earlier by one of our members who was B&DAntiques who was a dealer that really knew his furniture. You've got a "baker's cabinet" circa 1890. This is the forerunner of the hoosier, which became very popular. These are often called "possum belly hoosier's" because of the shape of the lower bin drawers.
Here is mine, I did a period correct, minimally invasive restoration on mine. It still had the original finish on all but the work surface, was missing all hardware and knobs, as well as the glass. The restoration below was done entirelly with antique parts including the glass and the finish is mineral oil only, no stain:
http://www.antique-shop.com/forums/index.php?topic=6351.0 (http://www.antique-shop.com/forums/index.php?topic=6351.0)
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x124/talesofthesevenseas/Hoosier36.jpg)
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Just saw you guys already pointed the way to my possum belly in your posts! ;D
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The one you have, is a bit fancier model than this one !! I think this one is later and was originally painted !! Yours is very nice Tales !! Don`t see those much in my area !!
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Mine was picked from someplace in the midwest US in the 1970s. It was in an antique dealer's inventory then they divorced and it stayed with the husband who had a furniture refinishing business. He resurfaced the work surface, then set a paint can on it and never got to the rest of it, thank goodness, so most of the original oiled finish was spared.
The husband was suffering from alzheimers and eventually passed away. The inventory went to the daughter of the couple and it all sat untouched in a warehouse for the next 20 years, which is why the wood was light colored and dry. Finally, the daughter put most of the warehouse up on Craigslist and started selling it off, which is how I found it. They had about six Hoosiers in various states of completion.
I fell in love with this one immediately, and it continues to be one of my favorite pieces of furniture and one of the most useful. It has had a lot of additions since the photo above.
I keep wineglasses in the upper cupboards, spices in the drawers, my collection of antique cookbooks are at the back of the work surface under the cupboards and the old bowl with all my functional antique kitchen gadgets is at the front of the work surface. Hubby owns rights to the bins and has his favorite treats in those. The antique apple peeler is on the opposite end from the grinder and the pie carrier sits beneath it. These look great and are super useful.
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Cogar, it is a metal top and looks to be original.
I can see that the top was covered in metal which looks to be more like zinc than tin.
But I am dubious as to it being original and am guessing that it was put on there by a previous owner .... because the right hand corner (see pic below) shouldn't have that gap in it .... and it might be just the picture but the right hand edge of the metal doesn't appear to be a nice straight 90 degree fold or "break" (a metal bending term).
Now the way the metal is nailed to the underside of the top might tell you if it was done by a craftsman or a reconditioner.
Given said, me thinks yours originally looked like the one Tales owns and posted picture of.
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Cogar, it is a metal top and looks to be original.
I can see that the top was covered in metal which looks to be more like zinc than tin.
But I am dubious as to it being original and am guessing that it was put on there by a previous owner .... because the right hand corner (see pic below) shouldn't have that gap in it .... and it might be just the picture but the right hand edge of the metal doesn't appear to be a nice straight 90 degree fold or "break" (a metal bending term).
Now the way the metal is nailed to the underside of the top might tell you if it was done by a craftsman or a reconditioner.
Given said, me thinks yours originally looked like the one Tales owns and posted picture of.
So what am I looking for as far as the top being nailed on? I love the looks of Tales cabinet but I want to know if ours was originally painted or not to put it back to its original state. Is there a way to know if it was painted or not? I wish there were some tags on it to identify it with. This used to set on grandmas back porch and become the "tool" chest with about anything you can imagine thrown into it. Thanks again for all of the help.
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So what am I looking for as far as the top being nailed on?
Look up under the sides and front of the top, where it protrudes out from the cabinet and there you should see where the metal is nailed to the underside. Take a couple pictures and post them.
Is there a way to know if it was painted or not?
You need to check it all over .... top, underneath, inside, outside etc., ..... and look for "un-painted" areas that should have been painted .... if it was originally painted.
Like underneath the hinges, knobs and drawer pulls. If original it would have been painted before those items were installed.
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Look at the door hinges !! Around them there would be no excess paint around edges if originally painted !! If painted afterward,, normally they rarely removed them from the cabinet to repaint !! Usually just went around the hinges or over them !! Knobs would have been taken off because they are easy to do !!
Can also look around the belly for paint where it should not be,, !!
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Look up under the sides and front of the top, where it protrudes out from the cabinet and there you should see where the metal is nailed to the underside. Take a couple pictures and post them.
OK so the nails are actually in the face of the top, not underneath. So at this point, I would assume that at some point this was added. Great information to know as I want it to be as original as possible. As for the paint, I am not sure yet. I will definitely check that out. Again, I will post pics when it is completed. Thanks for all of the information.
Bryce
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If it is not original to the cabinet, you might want to consider removing the zinc work surface. It isn't considered perfectly safe for food prep but it's not a big threat either. As I understand it, acidic foods like tomatoes can cause the zinc to leach low-level toxins into food.