The item I have chosen to follow its chain of ownership within my family is a Hoosier stand-up hutch or cabinet, that I had no idea had been in may family for so long. This hutch belonged to my great-great-grandparents, who gave it to my grandfather, who we inherited it from when we moved into his house after he passed. I was able to go home this past weekend, and this is how I stumbled upon the idea of writing about this hutch. I was talking about family items with my parents, and we all happened to look at the hutch and say something different about it. I immediately knew that the story behind our dining room hutch would hold a lot of value, and that it would be a great item to trace back in history for four generations.

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This Hoosier kitchen cabinet was manufactured by the company in New Castle, Indianna. When researching more about this brand and company, I found that our model is a bit different from the standard model that was popular during the time. The standard Hoosier model was a stand-up kitchen cabinet with a work station attached to it, so that one could store items, and prep meals all in one functional place. Our cabinet, is simply just that; a cabinet. It has five cream colored shelves, and storage options on the inside of the door. It has a darkly stained exterior, with some intricate details on the front of the hutch. It has small holes in the back, so that air can move in and out, and items don’t become stale. Hoosier cabinets quickly became staple items in many households, so I was a bit surprised that I could not find more information about other cabinet models like the one I have. There could be many explanations for this, for example maybe my great-great-grandparents purchased this style before the brand became popular, it could have been given as a gift to them, that for them this style was the most logical, or maybe sometime over the years they altered the cabinet.

Any of these explanations could be true, but I do know for sure that the use of this cabinet has changed a lot over its time. While I have no way of knowing exactly what my great-great-grandparents used this hutch for, I do think that their use of it was representative of the time. On the label on the back, is my great-great-grandma’s address, where the hutch was shipped to after its manufacture. I am thinking that she used it as it was designed, for kitchen storage of items like baking supplies and spices.

Somewhere in this cabinet’s lifetime, it was moved from its home in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, to Endicott, New York. Which is where it has stayed for the past two generations. This was passed down from my great-great-grandparents and given to my Poppa, and the time in between I am unsure who’s possession it remained in, or if it ever changed place or function. When this was given to my Poppa, he kept it in the basement of the house, and used it to store his tools. This is where some of the purposes of this cabinet change, as it has left the kitchen, and now been altered. To organize some of his tools, my Poppa drilled holes in the sides of the cabinet from which to hang things.

After the passing of my Poppa, my family and I moved into his house, to keep it in the family. Therefore, my house is full of family items and can even be considered one in and of itself. Since this is my mother’s childhood home, we have kept a lot of things the same, only changing those things that no longer serve us, like paint colors and carpets. Since my mother has had it, she has kept it in our dining room, and used it as a baking and spice cabinet. When discussing the hutch, she mentioned how she remembered cleaning the cabinet of my Poppa’s tools and how she and my father brought it upstairs. Growing up, I had no idea this hutch had been in my family for so long, and that it held so much significance. I’m glad I was able to discover a new family object, and trace its lineage over time, and now I hope that one day this cabinet can be found in my own dining room, where my future family will see it.

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