Hooseir Cabinets Can Be Practical Collectables

Prior to the Depression era kitchens were large and held pantries, a cupboard, and various assorted bins to store kitchen essentials. People began to move from the country to the city with homes that had much smaller kitchen. Hoosier Manufacturing company had been preparing for this trend with the making of the Hoosier Cabinets since 1898. The idea was simple enough make a baker's cabinet with various storage bins for essentials into a standard kitchen cupboard.

If did not take long for the 'Hoosier 'to become very popular and wanted by housewives everywhere. They could be ordered from the sears catalog and were made from pine or oak. The Hoosier cabinet makers prided themselves on the ability to create an extra ordinary amount of storage space in a efficient 6ft design space. Later models of the Hoosier cabinet stood on legs like enameled stoves and sinks of the era. Work space in a much smaller kitchen became a real challenge. Responding to this trend, the Hoosier Manufacturing Company was founded in 1898,

Not all Hoosier cabinets where made by Hoosier manufacturing. Many other "Hooseir Style "cabinets were sold during the early 20^th century. All hoosier cabinets had an upper section with bins for dry baking stables. The flour bin drawer of held up to 50 pounds of floor and had a but in shifter. More exotic Hoosier cabinets would have spice racks and a built in coffee bean grinder. Many had a bread bin for the finished product that was really a baker's cabinet.

The cabinet first was built for quality and longevity. Hoosier cabinets can be considered transition pieces betweenthe old welsh cupboards and later porcelain and enamel kitchens. Some manufacturers of Hoosier style cabinets started selling matching storage containers of jadeite, enamel, and pottery.

Classic Hoosier style cabinets are hard to find outside of the Midwest. They are becoming rare and expensive. They are not easy to find in good condition in the more popular antiquing areas of the Indiana even. The earliest known hoosier style cabinet maker is Coppanes Nappanee who had a saw mill in the area now known as Amish Acres as early as 1873. The building that they made Hooseir style cabinets in now is where they make custom cabinatary.

Michigan Hoosier company offers reproductions of popular models of the Hooseir cabinets or new customized Hooseir cabinets that feature such things as a built in microwave storage. Because you can fully pick the features for your new Hooseir style cabinet it may still be more economical to buy one than to replace all of your old cabinetry. http://www.mihoosier.com/aboutus.html http://www.kennedyhardware.com/