Heirlooms

This little cabinet sits in the corner of the dining room. It was used to store sewing supplies when it was in my grandma's house. She kept bobbins, needles and spools of thread in it. The ends have secret compartments in them and if you lift the ends on either side up you can find lots of extra storage there. I keep hot pads and candle supplies in it now. It's convenient to have the hot pads for the table right there when I need them.

A closer look at the items on top shows some family heirlooms. The oil lamp and the china dish were grandma's. The wood bowls were made on my grandpa's wood lathe from wood taken from a log cabin owned by the Miller family in our township. The brown glass bottles were found in the nearby Toussaint River. I found the white glass hen dish at Lene's Web two years ago. It doesn't have a knick on it.

I found the old school books at Lene's Web too and I put them under the oil lamp as a tribute to my grandma who was a school teacher.

This is the maker's mark on the back of the china dish. I've never researched it but I'm sure it's a common pattern. Grandma never bought anything really expensive. She was a very thrifty person.

It's the only piece I have from this pattern. I always thought the colors were nice even though the oriental pattern is not my taste. I like the orange and brown together and it looks right at home on top of the sewing cabinet.

Keeping Up To Date

In this 1957 edition of "Home Journal", modern household items are featured (click to biggify). The "free wheeling" tea cart was featured in the 1957 Furniture Show in Chicago. It is priced at a very affordable $70.

Next is the "Smoke-N-Odor Stop" by Philco which removes smoke and odors when placed over a range burner. Basically it was a catalytic converter for the stove. I wonder if it worked? It cost $30.

The Nutone Food Center is featured in the last photo. The base sat in the electric motor which was located beneath the counter top. I think this might have been the predecessor to the KitchenAid mixer with all its attachments. The meat grinder attachment is in use in the photo. You could also get the mixer, blender and juicer as separate attachments. The base unit was $79.50, the juicer was $3.95 and the grinder was $19.95.

If you had any of these items in your home I'd be interested in hearing about them.

Well-Hung Furniture

Got your attention, didn't I?

Check out the furniture in this article. Those skinny-legged, low-backed chairs are so retro! The concept of hanging furniture on the wall so that it can be moved up out of the way is a bit strange, but practical. I have to admit, I've never seen it done. The only drawback I can see is the inability to rearrange the furniture once it's installed.

The retro colors in the drawings are nice and make me think of the colors my grandma used in her house. Remember avocado green? Mustard yellow? Aqua blue? Yeah, I knew you would.