Author: CoppesAdmin

Hello everyone, hope you had a pleasant holiday with family and friends. I know I ate too much, but that is over with and it is back to work. Today’s Bill’s History Corner incorporates some local history – if you consider South Bend and Elkhart local. I think that I have told you that Coppes and Zook Co. sold their Napanee Dutch Kitchenets through existing stores. Any store with enough floor space was fair game to host a Coppes Kitchenet sale. Coppes’ over-the-road salesmen were looking for areas that had families and a store with floor space. Coppes & Zook supplied almost everything else. They provided newspaper advertising copy for the stores to use as well as measuring cups or other items as favors to give to everyone that came to the store to just look at the Dutch Kitchenets. Coppes & Zook also provided tin signs that could be fastened to trees, and the 5 foot stand up Dutch Girl was sent to stores for additional advertising.  A salesman, familiar with the Dutch Kitchenet, was also sent to the store acting as an additional salesman during the 3-5-day sale of Dutch Kitchenets.

In the Coppes Commons Historical Collections we have letters sent back to Coppes & Zook from stores that had a sale of Coppes Dutch Kitchenets. Most of the letters have a central theme, which is, we are so pleased with the way the Kitchenet sale was handled that we want to have another sale of Dutch Kitchenets as soon as possible. Two of those letters are attached below. One from The Home Furniture Company of South Bend. Home Furniture held a Dutch Kitchenet sale in Nov. 1922, where they sold 50 cabinets in 5 selling days.

The other letter is from the Chas. S. Drake Co. of Elkhart. The Drake Co. sold 52 Kitchenets in one day, and maybe could have sold additional cabinets if they had more on hand. Both letters point out how important the “Demonstrator” was to the success of the sale. The Home Furniture & The Chas Drake letters are but two of the many letters. Another letter from Steinkamp’s Furniture in Cincinnati, Ohio, informs us that during their January 1923 Kitchenet sale, which closed on Jan 31th (I guess the sale ran for the whole month), they sold 295 cabinets. Wow, that is at least 5 train car loads of cabinets.

Add to this cabinet sales concept the additional plan of One Dollar Down, one Dollar a Week, which kept customers returning to the stores to purchase other merchandise. You can easily understand why stores all across the country were eager to have a Coppes Dutch Kitchenet Sale in their store.

We are looking at two “Hartman Brothers, receipts today. The Hartman Brothers (Jacob, John & Thomas) operated the largest “General Merchandise” store in Nappanee, located on the West side of South Main. The Hartman Brothers’ 3 story buildings are still standing.

They advertised that they were dealers in “Dry Goods, Clothing, Boots and shoes, Groceries and Queensware, Grain and Hay.” The Coppes, Zook & Mutschler Co. did a large amount of business with the Hartman Brothers. These two receipts, one dated Feb, 14, 1907, is for a large amount of grain that was likely used as horse feed. In 1907 the C, Z & M Co. had a dozen or more “teams” of horses that were used to haul logs to the sawmill. Also, Frank and John Coppes took pride in the “fancy teams of horses” that they still maintained, although they had automobiles by this date.  They kept horses because they liked having them.

The March 2^nd, 1909 receipt is has more general merchandise items. Such as “lantern globes 2 @ .20. or on Feb 19^th these lines _ “To 3 yds. Oil Cloth — .90 for Saw Mill- B. J. Miller”, possibly using the oilcloth to cover an open window opening in the winter.

I put in a lot of road miles this morning. I went to Chicago and came back with a prize. The prize is in the form of a Sellers Kitchen Cabinet. This cabinet was generously donated to the Coppes Commons Kitchen Cabinet Museum by Peter & Denise (Ogdon) Dellva, Glenview, IL. It is Denise’s Grandmother (Elizabeth Rose (McDonald) Ogdon) in the photo shown below as she is working at her Sellers Cabinet in 1943 (see calendar on wall).

 I know, I know, before I get a lot of flak along the lines of, we only made the Napanee line of kitchen cabinets in the Coppes Commons buildings, so they are more important. Let me explain how rare a picture like this is. It’s the only one like it that we have. I have seen a few, but they look staged for an advertising shot. A picture from 1943 showing the cabinet that we now have in the collection is great. Displaying the cabinet along with the photo will make a more interesting experience for any Museum visitor. We are, after all, a Kitchen Cabinet Museum, not just a Coppes-only Cabinet Museum! Here is a photo of the cabinet today.

For today’s Bill’s History Corner, I found something that interests me. Old tools are very dear to my heart. I found a receipt dated Feb 8, 1908, when the Coppes, Zook & Mutschler Co. purchased 5 Doz. number 2 size hand screw clamps from the ADJUSTABLE CLAMP CO. of Chicago. The original price was $37.50 but the company was given a discount of 2 % which equals $.75, to make the total cost $36.75. Looks like the freight cost was $.38.  These clamps were the JORGENSEN PATENT WOOD CLAMP style of hand screw clamps, a style that has been favored by woodworkers everywhere. A company note on the receipt indicated that ½ of the clamps were intended for Factory “A” and the other half for Factory “B”.

In 2018, these clamps are still being used in the Coppes Napanee custom kitchen factory. There is almost no way of knowing if the clamps we find in the factory today are the original ones purchased in 1908, because the style of the clamp has changed very little. One interesting sidebar is the clamp pictured below with an original size Jorgensen clamp. This longer clamp likely was broken during use, and someone in the company (maybe a maintenance man) decided the clamp could be repaired and made usable again. And that they did by putting new longer wood jaws on the original screws. This clamp was found on a shelf of tools in the factory about a month ago.

I found something that is really interesting to me. Maybe to you also. It seems that Google Books has scanned and made available on the internet, books on many subjects (I don’t know how many, search Google Books for a subject that interests you on your computer). I found 5-6 on early furniture companies that also had advertisements from kitchen cabinet manufactures. From the beginning of the Kitchen Cabinet Museum here at Coppes Commons people have wanted to know how many companies made the kitchen cabinets called “Hoosiers”. To that end I have been recording newly discovered companies on to my “List of Hoosier Cabinet Manufactures” which I intend to share with you in today’s History Corner. But first, I need to make a disclaimer. Almost all the companies on my list are there because I personally have seen a likeness of a cabinet that can easily be named a “Hoosier” cabinet. I look for names of Hoosier cabinets manufactures everywhere. Some companies are from eBay listings, some from cabinets in antique stores, magazines & newspaper advertisements, and then Google Books advertisements.

I was looking at the Google Books, St. Louis Furniture Journals for the years 1924-25-26 and found several new (new to me) cabinet company advertisements. I also looked at the 1917 & 1921 The Furniture Worker and found some more. I’m beginning to think that a lot of furniture manufacturing companies during the heyday of the Hoosier cabinet fad tried their hand at making a version of a Hoosier style kitchen cabinet.

Here are three advertisements for kitchen cabinet manufacturing companies that I recently found. I used these three Advertisements because they are all close to Northern Indiana, and I did not know of them until recently.

This is turning into a long Bill’s History Corner. Next, this is my current (as of Oct. 28, 18) list of Hoosier cabinet Manufactures. This list contains some of my notes also. I’m sure the list will grow larger as more companies are discovered.

 

Our collected list of Hoosier Cabinet manufacturers as of Oct. 28, 2018.

Disclaimer-Names of MFG. were found in many places, eBay listings, Cabinets in Antique Stores, Advertisements in Magazines, Trade Journals, Etc. In most cases, I actually looked at a likeness of a cabinet or an actual kitchen cabinet that was constructed in the style of Hoosier Cabinets. A cabinet that is free-standing, with top and bottom parts and a work surface and large amounts of storage. Some listings contain my notes.

 

Abernathy Furniture Co, Kansas City, MO

Ariel Cabinet Company – Peru, Indiana ”handyhelper”

Baines, Mosier Company, Allegan, MICH. Pic. In file

Biederman Mfg. Co.  Spencerville, Ohio (2 roll-ups)

Boone Kitchen Cabinet – Campbell-Smith-Ritchie Co. – Lebanon, Indian

Chatham-Manson Campbell Co, Chatham, Ont 1900-

Culinart, Frankfort, Ind.

Dearborn Desk Manufacturing Co, Marion, IN (The Marion Cabinet Co.), have cabinet

Diamond Kitchen Cabinets – Shelbyville, Ind. The C.F. Schmoe Furniture Co. (have advertisement)

“Domestic Science” Built in Kitchen Units. McDougall Co.  Frankfort, Ind.

“Dulin” Anderson-Dulin Varnell Co. Knoxville, KY. 3 different cabinets Mfg. by Coppes for Dulin

Easiwork Kitchen Cabinet, 242 Tottenham Court Road. LONDON, W. 1. (eBay listing)

Elwell- Minneapolis, MN Have pic. In adv. file

Greencastle – Greencastle Cabinet Co., Greencastle, Indiana

H J Scheirich, Louisville, KY, and Scheirich, Louisville, Kentucky.

Hartman’s white beauty Comfort Kitchen Cabinet No location, printed tin sign.

Hastings, Hastings Cabinet Company, Hastings, Michigan

Harris – Brown table Co, Greenwood, Miss — Patented item? Sept 9, 1912

Hoosier Manufacturing Co.  New Castle, Indiana

“HOPPER” Brand Kitchen Cabinet Cupboard, made in Sioux City, Iowa. (ebay item)

Hygena, Liverpool, England. 1930s Ebay item

Ideal – Vincennes, Indiana Ideal, Vincennes Furniture Manufacturers, Vincennes Indiana

I-XL furniture Co (Goshen IN)-looks like Coppes parts 

Kelly foundry and Machine, Goshen, IN

Kemp   Levenworth KS     listing on ebay

Keystone, Littlestown, PA Example with clock

“Kitchen Maid” Wasmuth-Endicott, Andrews, IND. (ebay cabinet listing)

KLANKE Furniture co.  New Bremen, Ohio

Kuchins Furn. Mfg. Co., St. Louis, MO “3 K Kitchen Cabinet, Keep, Kitchen, Kleen” Pics.

Landau Cabinet Co, St Louis, Mo

Mutschler Bros. Manufacturing, Nappanee, IN

Kemper Brothers, Founded in Feb 9, 1926 – Richmond, IN/Cincinnati, OH. —-

—-   Subsidiary of Masterbrand Cabinets, Jasper, IN.    2017, Still in business.

Marsh – High Point, North Carolina (Marsh Furniture Company) (have adv.)

The Ohio State Stove & Mfg. Co., Columbus, Ohio (Royal Ossco all steel kitchen cabinet)

John Thomas, “Manufacture of Kitchen Cabinets, Galveston, Indiana” we have cabinet.

Oxford- 1930’s, Oxford, PA

McClure. Marion, IN

McDougall – Frankfort, Indiana

MONARCH   ???????? & CABINETS  (from label on cabinet)

Napanee – Nappanee, IN (Coppes, Zook & Mutschler) (Coppes Bros. & Zook) (Coppes, INC.)

Red Wing Cabinet Co.  Red Wing, Minn.    eBay listing

Sellers – Elwood, Indiana

Showers Brothers Furniture Co. – Bloomington, Indiana

The Tippycanoe,  “THE TIPP BLDG. & MFG. CO. Tippycanoe City, Ohio. “Tippycanoe Kitchen Cabinets, ‘None Better”  (Ebay item, pics in file)

Wilson – Grand Rapids, Michigan (sold by Sears)

Harris-Brown table co.  kitchen cabinet

The Manson Cambell Company, Chatham, ONT.

White Barton Cabinet Company, ???

Galax Furniture & Lumber Co. Galax, VA. “MFRS. of Kitchen Cabinets, Bed Room Suites & Chiffoniers.”- — Have photo of cabinet @ Antique Mall in Port Shelton, MI

Springfield Model Kitchen Cabinet, Springfield Furniture Co., Springfield, MO

“Perfection” Colonial Cabinet Co. 2616 N. 15^th St. St. Louis, MO.  Ad. in 1915 St. Louis Furniture News

“The Helpmate Cabinet” Little Rock Furniture Manu. Co.  Little Rock, ARK.

“Justrite Cupboards & Kitchen Cabinets”,  Indiana Furniture Company, Evansville, IN  Ad in June 1915 ———St. Louis Furniture News

Mother Hubbard’s New Cupboards, The Cardinal Cabinet Co. Wabash, IN.  P. 52 June ‘15 St. Louis —  ——–Furniture News

Joering and Pelchmann Co.   St Louis, MO ad on page 39, July 1915, St Louis Furniture News

Crawford-Bunch Furniture Co. Statesville, NC.  Ad on P. 48 Sept, 1915 St. Louis Furniture News.

Campbell, Smith & Ritchie.  Lebanon, Ad in 1905 Furniture journal

McAnsh, Dwyer & Co. Chicago, IL. Ad in 1905 Furniture Journal

1. C. Niemann & Co. Rockwell St. Chicago, IL Ad in 1905 Furniture Journal

Kompass & Stoll Co. Niles, MI.    Ad in 1905 furniture Journal

The Ranney Refrigerator Company, Greenville, Mich.   Ad in 1905 Furniture Journal. P 154

Globe-Bosse-World Furniture Co. “Kitchen Cabinets”.  P. 274, The Furniture Worker Vol. 38, 1921

Lambeth Furniture Co. Thomasville, N.C.  “kitchen cabinets” The Furniture Worker Vol. 38, 1921

Leo Kahn Furniture Co. Menphis, Tenn. “Kitchen Cabinets” The Furniture Worker Vol. 38, 1921

“National” Cabinet, The National Screen & Manu. Co. Cincinnati, OH. The Furniture Worker Vol. 38, ‘21

Kitchen Cabinet TINWARE, McCormick Bros. Co. Albany, Ind. P.65 The Furniture Worker Vol. 38, ‘21

Acme Kitchen Furniture Co. Chattanooga, Tenn.  Ad. Nov. 1917 Furniture Worker

Falcon manufacturing Co. Big Rapids, Mich.  Ad. 1918 Grand Rapids furniture Record

King Mantel & Furniture Co. Knoxville, Tenn.   Ad. 1921 Grand Rapids Furniture Record

For this week’s History Corner, we are looking at three early pictures of South Main Street. The first photo is dated 1915. The street had been paved with brick just five years earlier in 1909-10. The first block between Market St. and Lincoln St. was filled with businesses. There were two banks, Hartman’s department store, and drug stores, etc. The block was full of buildings, several having second-floor offices above the 1st-floor business. At the Southeast Corner of Lincoln St. and S. Main was the Nappanee Carriage Company building, an imposing 3-story brick building with the city water tower and power station behind. On South are a grain mill and the railroad tracks.

The long building shadows that show up on the street tells me this picture was taken late in the afternoon when there was very little traffic on the street. I only see one horse and wagon with a load of what looks like grain. Also notice the window awnings on most of the east side buildings. It appears that there are trees with leaves in the background so this may have been during the summer or early fall months. Do you see the thing that looks like a gas pump? Well that is what it is.

Photograph number two doesn’t look like the same street. So many buggies, wagons, sledges, hardly a parking place left. Looks really cold with ice on the streets and people in heavy coats. Were the people in town for Christmas shopping or was this a typical busy Winter Saturday? Wouldn’t it have been great if someone had written the date on this picture?

 

Photograph number three is labeled ONION DAY NAPPANEE. This is also South Main Street, south of Lincoln Street, see the train cars in the distance. For those of you that don’t remember, early Nappanee agriculture involved growing lots and lots of vegetables. The Nappanee Produce Co. is the building on the left side of the picture. Seems the soil around Nappanee was great for growing vegetables. To help celebrate the prosperity that Nappanee was experiencing Nappanee held a festival/carnival that was called ONION DAYS. Onion days happened for several years, approx. from 1909 to 1913. We do not know which year this picture was taken. Look at the people, Ladies and young girls decked out in white dresses, most of the men in shirtsleeves some with coats. Wonder which Month of the year it was? Looks like we could say a “good time was had by all”.