The Hoosier Cabinet

Sometimes people have absolutely no idea what a treasure they have in their possession. And that usually works to our benefit!

I was sleeping in a couple of Friday mornings ago when a friend called to tell me she’d seen a Hoosier cabinet at a yard sale on her way to work for just $40. I have to admit I probably would have had no appreciation for that fact at all had that very friend not had a Hoosier cabinet in her kitchen that I have admired every time I’ve visited her home. I wanted that cabinet and I really needed it, given we ran out of storage room in this kitchen long ago.

I was fortunate enough to have only my boys with me that morning and I got them up and threw clothes on them as quickly as I could manage and was out the door in record time. I really couldn’t believe the cabinet was still there when I pulled up, although it wasn’t much after 8:30 when I found the house my friend had directed me to. But for those of you familiar with yard sale shopping, the serious shoppers, (the traders and flea market salesmen,) have usually hit every yard sale in town by 8:07 on Friday mornings and anything like this Hoosier cabinet is long gone.

But God was smiling upon me that morning. This yard sale had a…well…trashy look to it, although the people really had some nice things for sale, so it didn’t seem to be attracting many shoppers. The house there was run-down and it sat back in a cove of trees so that I’m not sure I’d even noticed it was there before that morning. The grass was knee-high in places and things were mostly dumped around rather than set up for people to view.

But there sat the Hoosier cabinet. I checked it over and with a $40 price tag, it was a steal. Since then I’ve done a little research and discovered that a lot of collectors are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a Hoosier cabinet like this one, so obviously this woman had no clue what a treasure was sitting in her yard.

I hesitated only because in my haste I’d come without any cash and I had no idea how and when I could get the cabinet home, especially with the long hours my husband often works in the summer. I looked at it and then ambled through the other merchandise for sale there. I went back to the cabinet and took a picture to text to my husband. I shopped some more. I went back. Finally the woman manning the yard sale hollers out, “I’ll take $30 for that.”

I was snickering inside, but tried not to act too excited. “Well, okay. I’ll take it.” Fortunately the woman was kind enough to take a check and my dad was available to help me get it home.

So a treasure sits in my garage and I can’t wait to do my little repairs and put my Hoosier cabinet in my kitchen where it belongs. And if you want, you can come along with me and share some in the process!