What's this piece of furniture called/worth?

DerbyDad03 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

Personally, I'd call it a cabinet. Are those cubbies inside the door sized to fit pairs of shoes?

Puckdropper

Too tall for an end table. Some sort of cabinet with two drawers and door.

If I was selling it I'd list it for $50 and take the first 20 anyone offers. Reality is, I'd put it out with a "free" sign and be done with it. Not worth my effort to sell it but I'm not a college student..

Reservation desk for a restaurant?

There was unofficial "trading" at various places I've lived. The idea was to set stuff you didn't need near the community refuse area. I got a bathroom stand I needed that way, and I gave away numerous items too. Many 18-20 year olds don't have extra money to waste on "stuff". The bathroom stand I borrowed is probably still in use by a student somewhere, less than a mile from where I left it...lol

DerbyDad03 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

Well, since it has a door on it, I'd call it a cabinet.

It's evidently intended for some specialized purpose, since it has the cubbies inside. Storing shoes sounds as good a guess as any.

I think it falls into the "it's worth what someone will pay for it" category.

If you want to make it worth more, go to Home Depot and get a $5 cabinet door lock. People love things with locks.

John

Looks like an old Edison Cylinder cabinet. I would have thought phone cabinet until I saw the cubbies inside. Too small for record cabinet.

List as antique. I would start price at $100 and take what I can get. It's often recommended not to put a price on anything and wait to see who bites. Check some of the sites on how to post on Craigslist.

If I had the room, I'd take it and redo it for myself as a headphone and CD cabinet. Been promising myself I would find or make one for a listening corner in the house.

It's unusual size and I don't know what, precisely, it might have been intended for, but I'm virtually positive it wasn't/isn't an Edison cabinet; almost universally they had either cylinder pockets for storing the cylinders vertically or racks somewhat like a wine rack to hold them on their side. The pockets are way too big; and I don't think the drawers tall enough and I presume if they were anything but ordinary drawers would have been noted and pictures with them open also shown.

It doesn't look _that_ old to me, either, but in today's climate anything 50s or 60s or older would qualify as "antique"... :)

In fact, I did consider posting a picture of the inside of one drawer. One of the drawers is indeed "ordinary", i.e. just a drawer with 4 sides.

The other drawer has dadoes cut into the 4 sides which at one time probably held dividers. If I recall correctly, the drawer could be divided in 6 identically sized sections as 2 Rows of 3 when facing the drawer. If it's not 6, then it's just 4. In either case, the dividers are no longer present.

I wonder if it could be a knitting cabinet as shown here:

There does not appear to be an organization method for the needles and I'm not sure what the divided drawer would be used for, but I'm not a knitter.

Certainly the cross-cubbies would work but would work for quite a bit of other things as well, and as you say, you'd think there would be some more obvious arrangements for such. But, who knows?

Don't suppose there are any manufacturer marks or the like...

To me, it appears to be a variation of an old style commode cabinet, commod e type cabinet. Historically, most commodes were wider, than tall, but no t all.

Otherwise, it kinna looks like what I might think would be used in a GP doc tor's office, long ago... a simple accessory cabinet, of some sort, ..... i n any old office setting, rather than in a home setting.

Seems the design/style would not quite fit/coordinate into today's home fur nishings, other than some type of stand-alone decor piece, or for displayin g decor pieces relative to a past time period. It's a neat piece and, if I were to use it, I would try to adapt it to, use it for, some sort of acce ssory storage cabinet in the shop (upholstery or wood), rather than in the home.

I'd label it vintage/deco commode cabinet/accessory cabinet, put a $125 tag on it and see what happens. If I were a spur-of-the-moment art deco shop per, looking for something quaint, I might snap it up for at least $75, bef ore someone else gets it. An art deco shopper would know what "commode" o r "commode cabinet" might imply, more so than an average shopper.

Sonny

I concur that it could be a knitting cabinet. I made one after talking to knitters so I have a bit of familiarity with the needs. The top appears to have a lip that would keep needles from rolling off and the cubbies would store yarn. The one I made was a slightly different concept in that it was intended to store a project while it was in process. Having a lot of yard storage was not the priority. I'd advertise it as such and see what happens... if that doesn't work list it as a lingerie cabinet. ;~)

ag on it and see what happens. If I were a spur-of-the-moment art deco sh opper, looking for something quaint, I might snap it up for at least $75, b efore someone else gets it. An art deco shopper would know what "commode" or "commode cabinet" might imply, more so than an average shopper.

Don't advertise it as "I don't know what kind of cabinet this is"....

Make a declaration as to what it is! Describe or label it, in such a way, as to make it desirable.

Sonny

Could conceivably be that. Cubbyholes for menus? Of course I'd have expected them to be above the drawers in that use, possibly with a sloped top surface.

I'll have my daughter check to see if there are any labels, etc. that she can find.

Alas, there is no lip to prevent objects from rolling off. The piece was painted in such a way that there is a bare strip of wood around the edges of the top and the edges of the face of the drawers. etc.

I can see how the picture makes it look like a lip, but it is nothing more than the green paint ending about a 1/4" from the edge of top and then the tan paint that covers the routed edge detail.

My daughter found a partial label on the back of the piece:

The label reads Salmanson & Baumritter, 1107 Broadway, New York, NY

According to the link below, Sam Salmanson and Ted Baumritter were partners in "a little selling business...and they sold unfinished furniture and other houseware items." The business was essentially a drop-shipment jobber business, not a manufacturing business.

According to the text of the interview with Nathan Ancell, Baumritter's next partner, Salmanson & Baumritter parted ways in 1932. That indicates to me that the piece dates back to no later than the early '30s, making it an antique. Unfortunately, the label doesn't help in determining who made it, only who sold it. The piece appears to be numbered, but the label is ripped and hard to read.

BTW...The T. Baumritter Company eventually evolved from a drop-shipment company into the furniture manufacturer we know today as Ethan Allen. I found the following interview absolutely fascinating. Nathan Ancell relates all of the changes the company went through over years, including the WW-II period when they made coffins and crosses for the Navy. They also made life rafts for the Liberty ships and then struggled to stay in business after the war end as they transitioned back to a company that manufactured civilian goods. Nathan describes how the concept of the Ethan Allan galleries was developed and how his company changed the furniture business.

one vote for a knitting cabinet

...

That is interesting; I'd never delved into history of E-A and hadn't run into S&B. It's in excellent shape for the age (altho, of course, 80-90 isn't _that_ old, but a lot of stuff has been sorely abused long before then it its lifetime).

I still don't know what one would call it; while it's a long shot if one could find any old S&B catalogs online that'd be a shot at identifying it. No idea how they marketed so whether there were such to find I don't know, either...

Is there an antique consignment shop available where the piece is that you might trust to do a reasonable job of selling it for your daughter, perhaps? _Might_ get to a more attune market that way than just random Craigs List bargain hunter...and a knowledgeable person just _might_ even know what it is... :)

DerbyDad03 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

That date would put it before the era of built-in bathroom vanities, so I think whoever it was suggested it was a washstand or bathroom cabinet was likely right. The cubbies would be for holding towels before use.

John