Yesterday I got a much anticipated cabinet.
It is a Sellers Kitchen cabinet. It is a Hoosier style cabinet, which mans that it was built in Indiana and has a retractable work surface and a flour bin/sifter and a configuration of drawers and doors that would have housed different canisters to make life easier before the time of extensive built-in and fitted cabinetry. My Cabinet is a Sellers model 31-12 "Ivory on Mint Green Enamel". It was repainted white a very long time ago, and someone put new decals of gardenias on the doors over the original stencils. But I can still see the outlines of the original stencils and have found another Sellers cabinet on the Internet that has the same stenciled design that also had the same dimensions (though a different configuration of doors, drawers and flour bin) and it was dated at 1915. I wonder if mine was also 1915 or if the "12" on the model number means it is 1912? Or the "31" means 1931? If anyone knows, please comment!
I found this cabinet on Craigslist for $300. All the original hardware was there. The hinges confuse me though. They don't show except a tiny amount on the edge. They are not large and there are no holes on the face of the doors. I have not seen reproductions of these hinges. The old white paint that someone had repainted over the top of the mint green is scraping off slowly with the aid of time and a straight razer. I feel like an archaeologist. :) The repaint looks like it is probably 70 years old itself. It is lead paint, I believe, since it made my gloves look metallic, like I had colored them with pencils. I will not sand this stuff without a respirator.
Check out the pictures of the cabinet before restoration!
Check Van Dykes Restorer's catalog for replacement hinges and other Hoosier-type cabinet accessories. They sell reproductions and build it yourself kits.
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