LATE AGAIN BUT WITH GOOD REASON

The way to get one, I learned, was to watch for yard sales, estate auctions, ads in the newspapers, and now, of course, ON LINE. That last source didn't exist back in the days when I was looking, so I just kept my eyes open whenever I passed signs that said "garage sale". And then one day, I found one. It had been painted over in white, which meant that I would have to have it "stripped" by a place whose business it was to remove paint on old furniture using a chemical vat. Underneath would be the original oak, I hoped, and the enameled metal tray. After the stripping came meticulous sanding over the entire piece, both inside and out. Well the original wood was oak, but the previous owner had added what appeared to be paneling to hold up the backside. The combination was regrettable but I could use a really dark stain to achieve a blending of the two woods. The original metal identifier was put onto the front and finally, my prized antique was ready for its place in the dining room. Whenever company came and asked about it, I would explain what a Hoosier was and its origin. Yesterday I looked on Google® for places to buy the custom handles, and this is what I found:

The Hoosier Cabinet

In the early 1900's a Hoosier Cabinet could be found in a large percentage of homes in the United States. This cabinet is a reproduction of the 1917 Hoosier Cabinet which was not only a work of art, but a practical work center and a beautiful piece of furniture. "Hoosier" was the name given to a particular style of kitchen work unit, popular in the early 1900's which included an oak cabinet and many special features such as pull-out porcelain work areas, flour bins, sugar bins, tin bread drawers, and spice jars. It was an essential part of the woman's efficient kitchen. The name "Hoosier" was derived because the Hoosier Cabinet was originally and almost exclusively made in the Hoosier state of Indiana. Each of our Hoosiers is handcrafted by an Amish man as he strives to reproduce the original 1917 Hoosier which revolutionized the kitchen for thousands of cooks. For the first time, all the essentials were in one place, within easy reach. Standing in one place, one could sift flour, measure sugar and other ingredients, add spices, mix dough, and roll it out on the porcelain top. It was loaded with work-savers, flour bin with sifter, carousel spice racks, sugar bin, and much more.

The entire cabinet is solid oak and oak panel construction, just like the original. The paneled cabinet sides and all four doors are held together with a sturdy coped joint. The drawers are securely held together by dovetailed joints. The doors and drawers utilize a 3/8" overlapping lip to keep out dust.

The porcelain top pulls out for additional counter space when rolling out dough or preparing a meal. The baked-on porcelain wipes clean and won't absorb colors or odors. This Hoosier also includes the solid oak legs, with brass leg skirts and ant traps, wooden casters, sliding lower oak shelf, large adjustable shelf in upper cabinet area, two solid oak tambour doors, smooth-rolling drawer slides, tin flour bin, tin sugar bin, carousel spice rack with jars. Flour and sugar bins are not approved for storage or dispensing of food products. The tin is safe for food, but cleaning of them completely is almost impossible. The company that makes the hardware prefers to just say they are unsafe. However, we know of many people that use them every day, and our Amish have been using them for years, as did your grandmother and great grandmother!!! They are sold only for the restoration of antique kitchen cabinets.

Back to the painters, they were replacing the furniture in the dining room and because the Hoosier had wheels on the bottom of the thick wooden legs, they PUSHED IT BACK INTO PLACE instead of lifting it up and carrying it back to its place. As a result one of the legs cracked and the whole thing sat crookedly on its remaining supports. Doors wouldn't close and drawers couldn't open. I thought that a simple adjustment to the wheels on the floor would set it to rights, but when I posed this situation to my husband, he had me unload it so that he could take a good look. No, just moving the wheeled piece back to where it was wouldn't solve the problem. The legs had to be inspected, and then re-attached to hold the cabinet up. But this inspection led to finding the broken leg. From that point my husband was on an antique-saving quest that meant taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together without the slap-dash work that the previous owner(s) had done. This took one whole weekend, part of the next, and finally yesterday.