Kitchen Storage in Bygone Days

The Irish Dresser

I was reared in a thatched cottage up to 1953, I fondly remember our dresser. It had two cupboards and two drawers at the base and one shelf and four racks on the top section. The base was used for storing cookware and butter making utensils. The knives and forks were stored in the drawers. Cups and saucers and brown jugs were stored on the shelf and plates on the racks.

Three large willow pattern plates were  stored on the top rack.  During the 1950s when our American cousins visited, they took a fancy to the brown jugs and brought  them home as safekeeps. They saw the value of the brown jug long before the Irish people realised their value.

According to the National Museum of Ireland, the Irish dresser was the most important item of domestic furniture in homes in Ireland. It was used to display the status and wealth of the family through the display of fine ware. The dresser was usually the most cherished possession of the homemaker. It was functional and decorative and provided good storage space for the area it occupied.

The Kitchen Press

The dresser usually stood side by side with what was called the kitchen press. This was a more sober piece of furniture which was used to store flour and other goods. The two pieces of furniture were often used to form a partition between the kitchen and a small bedroom.

Our press was a large wooden press with two cupboards in the base and two in the top section. It was used to store flour, meal, and general groceries. Our press and dresser were used to create a partition between the kitchen and a small bedroom at the end of the building.

The Kitchen Cabinet (Hoosier cabinet)

During the 1940s/1950s the traditional thatched cottage was gradually replaced by modern modest houses. The old storage furniture was left behind in favour of the Kitchen Cabinet. This was a most ingenious piece of furniture, which had its origins in the 1890s American Hoosier cabinet. The Hoosier cabinet was one of the earliest design innovations of the modern American kitchen.

The Irish version came in bright colours of blue, yellow and orange. The base had two cupboards; the centre had a cupboard with a door that opened out to provide a workstation. Above that was two drawers for the utensils and two more cupboards on top.

It was a culinary storage and workstation all in one and it provided an efficient and clutter-free kitchen by combining storage for food, ingredients, utensils, tools, cookware, and condiments and most importantly it provided space to prepare the meals of the day.

Our blue coloured cabinet had pride of place in our new house until it was replaced by a built-in kitchen units in the late 1970’s. There was one mishap when one day I sat on the workstation and brought the whole unit crashing down.

End of an era

By the 1970s new houses were being built with modern kitchens that included built-in cabinets, carousels, counter tops, and the ubiquitous Aga cooker.

I am glad that I saw both lifestyles. Tá áthas orm go bhfaca mé an dá shaol.