A Hoosier cabinet (also known as a "Hoosier") is a type of cupboard popular in the first decades of the 20th century. Named after the Hoosier Manufacturing Co. of New Castle, Indiana, they were also made by several other companies, most also located in Indiana.
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Features
The typical Hoosier cabinet consists of three parts. The base section usually has one large compartment with a slide-out shelf, and several drawers to one side. Generally it sat on small casters. The top portion is shallower and has several smaller compartments with doors, with one of the larger lower compartments having a roll-top or tambour. The top and the bottom are joined by a pair of metal channels which serve as the guide for a sliding countertop, which usually has a pair of shallow drawers affixed to its underside. The whole assembly, with the counter retracted, is fairly shallow, about 2 feet deep; the width and height are generally about 4 feet and 6 feet respectively.
A distinctive feature of the Hoosier cabinet is its accessories. As originally supplied, they were equipped with various racks and other hardware to hold and organize spices and various staples. One particularly distinctive item is the combination flour-bin/sifter, a tin hopper that could be used without having to remove it from the cabinet. A similar sugar bin was also common.
Special glass jars were manufactured to fit the cabinet and its racks. A major manufacturer of the glassware was Sneath Glass Company. Original sets of Hoosier glassware consisted of coffee and tea canisters, a salt box, and four to eight spice jars. Some manufacturers also included a cracker jar. One distinctive form was a cylindrical jar with a ring molded around its center, to allow it to rest in the holes of a metal hanging rack.
On the inside of the doors, it was common to have cards with such information as measurement conversions, sample menus, and other household helps.
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History
The Hoosier Manufacturing Co. was incorporated in 1899 with John M. Maring as President. Houses of the period were frequently not equipped with built-in cabinetry, and the lack of storage space in the kitchen became acute. Hoosier adapted an existing furniture piece, the baker's cabinet, which had a similar structure of a table top with some cabinets above it (and frequently flour bins beneath). By rearranging the parts and taking advantage of (then) modern metal working, they were able to produce a well-organized, compact cabinet which answered the home cook's needs for storage and working space.
Hoosier cabinets remained popular into the 1920s, but by that time houses began to be built with more modern kitchens with built-in cabinets and other fixtures. Thus supplanted, the Hoosier largely disappeared. They remain common on the antique market, however, and are still used as supplemental cabinets.
Literature
There is very little written on the subject of Hoosier Cabinets. Though, Hoosier native Philip D Kennedy has written "Hoosier Cabinets. He spent several years traveling the Midwest countryside and interviewing and researching the cabinet's history. Kennedy owned a restoration hardware company, specializing in the cabinets, but many types of other antiques as well.
This book is about Hoosier Cabinets, the unique kitchen cabinets found in so many American homes from the turn of the century to the early 1930s. The Book provides detailed information about Hoosier, Sellers, Napanee, Boone and McDougall kitchen cabinets and the history of the companies that made them. The Book contains many old magazine advertisements for kitchen cabinets that will prove invaluable when attempting to identify or date old cabinets. They also show many of the accessories and other features associated with a particular cabinet. The final section of the book includes many helpful tips and techniques used to restore old cabinets.
One reviewer had this to say. "This paperback book is very helpful to antique furniture buffs and to anyone curious about an American homemaker's lifestyle in 1900-1930. It provides an excellent overview with a narrative on these large free-standing kitchen cabinets. Made famous by Hoosier Manufacturing Company, the cabinet style was also offered in similar models by other companies. Philip D. Kennedy has included black & white photographs plus sketches from sales literature and national magazine ads of the following companies: Hoosier, Sellers, Napanee (Coppes), McDougall, Boone and unknown manufacturers. Worth the price of the book alone is Chapter 8: "Restoring Hoosier Cabinets". This chapter offers step-by-step tips, photos of the process and inspiration with examples of the success of others who have restored -- plus close-up photos of hardware and metal side brackets. This book was a most helpful resource as I planned restoration of a 1914-era Napanee Dutch Kitchenet previously used in my great-grandfather's farm kitchen! The only reason I didn't give it "5 stars" was because the photos were not "professional" quality (some are a bit blurred but still helpful)."
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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