Spotlight on the Kern Valley Museum: The Hoosier Cabinet, Part One

The Hoosier Cabinet | Kern Valley Museum

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The Hoosier Cabinet | Kern Valley Museum

In our museum’s large room is a fine example of an old kitchen cabinet that today we call a Hoosier cabinet. The old Hoosier tells a lot about the kitchen workload of the lady of the house at that time. Hoosier cabinets began appearing in kitchens around the 1890s, became popular during the first decade of the 20th century and remained so until the mid-1930s.

Many homes built at the time did not have built-in kitchen cabinets. Many people built their own homes and added kitchen cabinets when they could afford them. Many homes did not have electricity or indoor plumbing. Ice boxes didn’t keep food cold for long, which meant daily trips to the store. All in all, kitchens were not a very convenient place to work and convenience was what the Hoosier cabinet was all about.

One ad of the day stated that its cabinet would save the lady of the house 1,000 steps a day and help her get her baking and cooking done quicker. Another claimed that a kitchen without their Hoosier was like a farm without a plow. Still, another claimed that their Hoosier was best because it was designed by 369 women. That seems like too many cooks in the kitchen to me.

All Hoosier cabinets had some things in common. They had an upper cabinet, a work table and a lower cabinet. Almost all were on casters so they could be easily moved. The upper cabinet was designed to open up and have everything at arm’s reach and easy to get at. The doors were meant to stay open when working at the cabinet. The left door swung to the left, the right to the right. If there was a middle door, it often was a sliding door (tambour) so it wouldn’t get in the way of the other doors. On the inside of the doors were racks to hold boxes of spices, matches and such. There was a holder for a cookbook so it would be up at eye level, making it hands-free and easy to read. One of the doors would also have room for a writing pad and pencil. Inside the upper cabinet was a large flour bin with a sifter at the bottom. A sugar canister was present along with shelves and a place to put the rolling pin.

Everything was easy to reach and organized. The work table, just below the upper cabinet, would slide out when being used and slide back in after cleanup. The earliest Hoosiers had wooden work tables, then they covered them with zinc, but zinc was toxic to some foods. They tried aluminum, but it dented and scratched too easily. Finally, they went with a steel worktable with a porcelain coating, strong and durable. The worktable slid out far enough to allow the housewife to sit on a stool without banging her legs on the lower cabinet.

To learn more, be sure to read part two of "The Hoosier Cabinet" in next week’s Kern Valley Sun.

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