{"id":844,"date":"2017-11-22T21:59:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T21:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/?p=844"},"modified":"2018-02-05T15:35:14","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T15:35:14","slug":"the-business-drawers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/?p=844","title":{"rendered":"The Business Drawers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Whether it be a set of china, a delicate spoon, a cookie jar, a hutch or dresser, the things that occupy the space with us become a part of our memories. Sometimes they\u2019re just always there, a constant backdrop to the birthday party, graduation or marriage. Others are so used and integral that they are the actual bricks and mortar of a recollection.<\/p>\n

Go to an estate sale or listen to someone reminisce about \u201cgrandma\u2019s house\u201d and you\u2019re likely to hear stories about the objects that attach themselves to memories.<\/p>\n

A recent move focused my thoughts on a piece of furniture in my life that doesn\u2019t necessarily have specific memories attached to it, but it\u2019s always been there. I\u2019ve never seen another piece like it and it has a pretentiously formal name: the Business Drawers.<\/p>\n

The Business Drawers got their start as a doll\u2019s clothes dresser. It\u2019s not uncommon to see antique miniaturized furniture items that were used as display models for furniture companies to sell full-size copies. They\u2019re cute and fully functional and gave buyers a sense of the details and proportions for the dresser, buffet or table they might order. In the days before printed photographs, when line-drawn illustrations were the best way to convey a visual to a consumer, these dwarf samples did the selling.<\/p>\n

At first glance, this little dresser may appear to be one of those samples. But it\u2019s not. I\u2019ve found many pieces similar to it, but no exact matches. It\u2019s clear that for a period of time, these small pieces of real furniture were common accessories for children\u2019s dolls.<\/p>\n

This one belonged to my great-great-grandmother. My mother adored it as a child and at some point it was given to her.<\/p>\n

Judging by the information I\u2019ve found online, originally it likely had a mirror on the back or some other adornment. It\u2019s in quite good condition, with repairs through the years evident, including a more modern back, sans a mirror or towel rack.<\/p>\n

The Business Drawers have been a part of my life since the beginning. Named by my mom long before I came on the scene, why that name?<\/p>\n

The adorable little dresser, measuring 24\u201d wide by 12\u201d deep by 15-1\/2\u201d tall held the household correspondence supplies.<\/p>\n

The top left drawer overflowed with pens, pencils and erasers \u2013 anything you\u2019d use to leave your mark.<\/p>\n

On the right side, the drawer held calculators, dad\u2019s slide-rule, a deck of playing cards, S&H Green Stamps books and postage stamps.<\/p>\n

The bottom drawer, which spans the full width of the piece, stored envelopes, stationary, writing tablets and a ruler.<\/p>\n

Throughout my life, people see the Business Drawers for the first time comment and wonder. When its purpose is explained they directly see the wisdom of its purpose. It\u2019s just big enough, not too so. It\u2019s attractive and seems to work with any other furnishing. Its top provides a place for a desktop phone (not of much use these days, I suspect) or any other small d\u00e9cor one might want to display.<\/p>\n

When my dad refinished it, he re-glued joints, but left earlier repairs made with visible nails, in place. My foggy memory tells me that when he did his work on it, there was no back at all \u2013 he crafted a replacement from plywood. It\u2019s certainly not \u201chistorically accurate\u201d, but is not seen and keeps the case sturdy.<\/p>\n

At some point my mom gave the Business Drawers to me and I cherish it. In the new house it again holds pens, a few USB charging cables and pads of paper. Most \u201cbusiness\u201d these days doesn\u2019t rely on the kinds of things you\u2019d store in a drawer, but the Business Drawers live on.<\/p>\n

Likely more than 150 years after it kept a doll\u2019s dress, blouse and stockings tidy, the form still of course would work for doll\u2019s clothes, writing implements, sewing supplies or the hundreds of fine pieces and parts we dare not lose under foot.<\/p>\n

Or even supplies for those, like my wife, who still send the occasional tactile thank-you, cheer-up or hand-written note.<\/p>\n

It has lasted far longer than the original maker probably ever imagined, but this little chest of drawers remains useful, decorative and is sized just right.<\/p>\n

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The sides, each made from a single board, has shapely detail.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The simple detail of the apron.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Another view of the leg detail.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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An old repair is visible on the top.<\/p><\/div>\n

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An example I found online that may reflect what a mirrored back may have looked like. The apron detail looks very similar to mine.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether it be a set of china, a delicate spoon, a cookie jar, a hutch or dresser, the things that occupy the space with us become a part of our memories. Sometimes they\u2019re just always there, a constant backdrop to the birthday party, graduation or marriage. Others are so used and integral that they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":855,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions\/855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaronkuehn.net\/tol\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}