My New Favorite Thing… EVER!!!

.

.

Hello Farmgirl Friends!!!

Have you ever had your eyes wide open looking, looking, looking for a certain antique item and you just can’t find it? I’ve been in that spot for literally YEARS (I’m talking 12 years here). I’m sure you’re dying to know what in the world it could be!

I won’t keep you in suspense. I’ve been looking in every antique store and Facebook Marketplace for an original Hoosier Bakers Cabinet. I’ve wanted one for a very long time, but I really didn’t start looking for one until we moved to Tennessee and began to build our farmhouse 12 years ago.

I even designed my kitchen with a spot just the right size for one. A year and a half later I still didn’t have one. And here is why: I saw plenty of them in the antique stores (both local to our town and nearby). And every single one I found was either painted, missing parts, broken drawers or doors, wasn’t the Hoosier brand and still cost a couple thousand dollars or more. I just wasn’t interested in something that wasn’t completely original with all the working parts.

.

.

So when it came time to work with the local cabinet shop on building our kitchen cabinets, I told the woman in design why I had this “blank spot” in my drawing and I explained my dilemma. She told me they could build a small cabinet that was only attached to the wall and above it they would build open shelves. (Photo above!) Both things could be easily removed when I found my Bakers Cabinet. So that was what we did. Through the 11 years we’ve lived in our house I’ve really grown to love that little spot in my kitchen with the short counter top (my request) and the open shelving above. That area is my baking area… where I roll out pie crust and bread dough. The drawers were designed to hold my Bosch Mixer and all my baking things. So…. eventually this burning desire to have a Hoosier faded a tiny bit; although I never stopped looking.

.

.

Fast forward to a couple months ago. On a wet, cold rainy Friday I offered to take my grand-girls to a 4-H event for my daughter and then pick them up when they were done. So while I waited, I did my usual and walked through one of our local antique stores. I was just killing time, not even paying much attention to anything in the store… until suddenly THERE IT WAS!!!! A Hoosier Bakers Cabinet, with the original latches with the Hoosier signature “H”. I’m telling you friends, that my heart raced out of my chest as I literally ran to look at it.

.

.

.

EVERYTHING was original and intact. From the original wood, to the flour sifter bin, sugar storage bin, spice jars, sliding doors, drawers, sliding shelves. There wasn’t anything that was missing.

.

And wait for it: even the original PAPER inside the doors. I mean seriously, have you ever seen a Hoosier with the original awesome papers? Even the paper with the slider for suggested meal and salad charts. (Pictured on the left above; zoom in!) I was almost hyperventilating. I was so afraid to look at the price expecting it to be a few thousand dollars. It was literally a third of that.

.I took measurements using the app on my phone… because here’s the thing. I do not have a large house. And if it wasn’t going to work in the kitchen where I had originally wanted one, there really wasn’t another wall I could fit it. (Because of the view from our hilltop, we built our home with a lot of windows, which is great but it limits wall space.) I was just a nervous wreck when I found out from the lady at the counter that it had just come in that morning. I knew it wouldn’t be there long.

.

That afternoon I measured the original spot in my kitchen. And yes, it would fit. But I suddenly knew that I didn’t want it there. That it wouldn’t do it justice, that I loved my little baking counter and open shelves…. so I measured other spots in my little sitting area off my kitchen, then a wall in the new dining room addition we had done this winter. And nothing worked. I felt sick and sad. That evening my daughter said “Mom, let’s go look at it together first thing tomorrow morning. I have an idea.” We drove to the antique store, it was still there and my daughter looked it over and said “Mom, just go buy it. We will figure out a way to make it work”. I didn’t even hesitate – I paid for it right then and make arrangements to pick it up the next week.

.

.

My daughter has great visual for size and space and her idea was to place it catty-corner between two large windows in my sitting area (what used to be our dining room, right off the kitchen). That afternoon, I taped off the exact measurements of the Hoosier and it seemed like it would be the perfect fit!

.

.

Early the next week we picked it up and I was such a nervous wreck about getting it home safely and if it would actually fit in that spot. And oh my word… it fits like it was made to be there. And being catty corner like it is, it creates such a great visual as you come into my open kitchen. It also looks amazing standing in our new dining room and looking into the kitchen. (Pictured above.)

.

.

So, here’s a little research I’ve done on my Hoosier. (It’s a rabbit hole that I spent way too much time on!!). On the bottom of the cabinet there is a Hoosier patent number and I found that it was made in 1921. Some more thorough searching and I found a picture of the advertisement in a 1921 Saturday Evening Post for this particular model. The advertisement is exactly like mine, right down to those papers on the inside of the doors.

.

.

Incidentally it was this advertisement that helped me discover what this strange “handle” on the right side of the cabinet was. We puzzled over it for days until I saw it in the advertisement! It was made for a meat grinder to be attached to. Isn’t that so awesome?

.

.

I love the flour bin with working sifter, the sugar bin with the large lid, the spice jars all intact. I’m still trying to decide whether to display spices in the jars… or just leave them as is. I think they are so pretty though. (Of course I love displaying my vintage Pyrex Mixing bowls there!)

.

.

So what am I doing with it you ask? Well… right now I’m using it to display all my fun vintage things that I’ve shopped around my house and moved into the cabinet! They are all things that make me happy, bring color and joy to my darling little sitting spot. Also it is the best conversation starter!

.

.

.

Perfect spot for cooling cookies! I just wanted to leave them here to look at for days! Smile!

.

.

These are a few of my favorite details in the pictures above: the food timer paper (was this what the original food timer looked like?! Zoom in to see the details!), the original little rusty hook, the darling metal cook book holder. Honestly, so many sweet details!

.

.

I’m going to stop here! BUT I want to know if you have a Hoosier (or other brand) Bakers Cabinet? Or do you have a good story about one that was in your family? Have I encouraged you to go on the hunt for one as well? Smile! I want to hear all the stories!

.

Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.

Dori