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ttodd

Old Ice Box

ttodd
10 years ago

One of the things that I love about our shop is all of the neat old pieces that come through to be fixed, finished, repaired and modified. I always wonder what the history is behind it and how the people came across the piece.

Yesterday when I stopped by to say hi I saw this piece that they'd just done and I thought it was so neat.

Comments (11)

  • homersmom
    10 years ago

    When my DH and his ex were splitting up, he only wanted the icebox that he had purchased at a garage sale years earlier. It now sits in our breakfast room and is one of our favorite pieces. He paid $160 for it back in 1974 - original finish. I love old stuff!

  • maire_cate
    10 years ago

    Well done - it's a beautiful piece. We have an old farmhouse flour cabinet with the roll down rounded bin beneath it for storing flour. It's not oak, DH thinks it might be maple but some of the hinges are broken and he'd like to have it restored.

    Forgot to add-
    could you post a photo of the interior?

    Thanks, Maire

    This post was edited by maire_cate on Sat, Jan 4, 14 at 12:00

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    10 years ago

    I have an old icebox and never figured out what to do with it, so it sits in our barn, aging away. It still has all the metal lining and all. The lid lifts for putting the ice in and unfortunately the latch on the door in front is broken....I've never seen a latch like it to repair it....

  • igloochic
    10 years ago

    annie there are reproductions available as well as salvage if you search "Ice box parts" or some such thing.

    They're wonderfully handy pieces. I have one that is actually a wine cooler/ice box with a deep well in the top and a drawer for the ice below. Sadly the metal is gone but it's great storage for the player piano rolls. (Does anyone want a player piano btw?) LOL It's hard to get rid of those danged things!

    The two above are gorgeous in their simplicity. Ice Boxes are one of my favorite antiques :) Just thinking about the history behind those doors...it's rather fun.

  • chucksmom
    10 years ago

    I love old iceboxes. I have one in my LR that houses my stereo equipment and tapes, cds, etc.

    Annie, please post a picture of the latch on your piece. Admittedly, I'm a hardware junkie and have several latches for iceboxes in my stash. Worth a try.

  • outsideplaying_gw
    10 years ago

    I love those old ice boxes. I'm not a even an antique junkie but I do love a few old pieces. DH has an old pie safe he got from his parents before my time. We had it restored and have used it in our breakfast room to store placemats, napkins, cookbooks and other assorted odds and ends needed in that area.

  • oldbat2be
    10 years ago

    Beautiful. Unfortunately, one of those things you didn't know you wanted until you saw one.,,,

  • Olychick
    10 years ago

    I am lucky to have 2 that were my grandparents'. When I was a child one sat on the back porch at their house, just used for storage, but I loved the wood and the latches and opening/closing the doors. My grandpa had the other in his workshop. They had to move out of their home when they were in their 90's - the family was going to take both of the iceboxes to the dump. I was young and didn't have my own home yet, but I begged a friend to store them for me. When I married, I got them and still have them both - all original finish and innards. The rest of the family suddenly valued them when old oak came back into fashion in the 1970's.

  • ttodd
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I often wonder what people do w/ unusual pieces like that too. I always ask DH what people are planning to do w/ some of more unique pieces. He rarely knows. I keep saying that he has to hire me so that somebody asks those important questions lol! I think he gets blinded by pretty wood:).

    Annie, you could also check Van Dykes. Sometimes I think their site is a bit hard to navigate because I know that they have tons of reproduction hardware. I prefer paging through their catalog. DH said he's pretty sure that they carry ice box hardware.
    Jaysmom, I love your hobby!
    So cool that so many of you have or remember old ice boxes!

  • deegw
    10 years ago

    We have one in the corner of our great room that we got from DH's parents. It's tall and narrow and a good piece of furniture for a dead corner.

    I keep all the dog items inside - treats, brushes, toys, etc. It has all the original metal but the finish is a bit muddy. I'll never be able to refinish while DH's mother is still with us. She'd have a fit.

  • gsciencechick
    10 years ago

    We went to an estate auction this fall, and there was an icebox like that. It was really gorgeous but pretty big and could not work in our house. It wound up going for some pretty good money, can't remember the exact price but I am thinking around $500.