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| This looked like the one in our house. |
Growing up, we had a Hoosier cabinet in our kitchen. It was
very old and passed on from my dad’s family. Somewhere along the way, Mom painted
it mint green to match the built-in cabinets in our house, so I am not sure of
the original color, although I do not think it was bare oak.
Her Hoosier had two top cabinets with a drawer in the center that was a flour bin. Mom always kept her cookbooks in that drawer. It had two drawers under the pullout workspace and a large storage area at the bottom with two doors.
These cabinets were popular in from 1890 to 1930, since they
did not build houses with cabinetry. The primary manufacturer was the Hoosier
Manufacturing Company, thus the name Hoosier Cabinets. The name was as common
as Kleenex is to tissue.
By 1920, the Hoosier Manufacturing Company had sold two
million cabinets, not counting those sold by other manufacturers. It is thought
that as many as 10% of all households owned one.
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| My Hoosier |
I loved that cabinet and had hoped I would inherit one day, but that did not happen, so I bought one of my own, which I hope to remodel one day.
So back to that center bin and the cookbooks…
I am not sure what the draw was to that center part of the
cabinet, but I explored it at every opportunity. Before they sold printed
cookbooks, my mom cut recipes out of magazines like “The Progressive Farmer”
and “Good Housekeeping” and pasted them over the pages of a regular book.
One day, I found a book titled “Book of Brave Deeds” and thought
that title was fitting for a cookbook for a new bride. For my parent’s fiftieth
wedding anniversary, I received recipes and stories from across the country
from friends and relatives and compiled them into a cookbook with the name “Book
of Brave Deeds II” circa @1991.
Most of the contributors have long since passed and many of
us have made copies of copies. Finally, I got it saved to a pdf.
I have attached the book here so feel free to download and
enjoy.
https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ah2AtgQYR-z4jx6-dFcGLgFrF0oi
I love Hoosier cabinets and I love the title of your cookbook!
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking in - I think everyone must love Hoosiers
DeleteI find Hoosier cabinets fascinating--there are so many variations to the genuine Hoosier brand. We have one in the kitchen. When we sold our house, the buyer wanted the one I had and I sold it to them. Of course, I've been sorry ever since. I need a 40K square foot house to keep all the things I admire.
ReplyDeleteI am totally with you! When I think of downsizing, I wonder what I will do with all my "finds" like my 20th centry dough box that was labeled as a "potato box" it was assembled with dove tail joints- I got it for $10
DeleteSigh. I too would have to own a warehouse to buy all the things I'd love to own. Sometimes I think it would be nice to live in a tiny house, but the contents of my office alone would fill the house.
ReplyDeleteTotally with you- I currently have 11 sewing machines- not sure where all those would fit!
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