Until I wandered through the Hoosier Cabinet Museum at Coppes Common in Nappanee, Indiana, I don’t think I’d really appreciated how cleverly-designed Hoosier cabinets were.
Such clever designs!
Hoosier Cabinet Features
There were so many different optional features to be found in a Hoosier cabinet’s design:
- A flour bin/sifter combo, which you would place a bowl under to catch the sifted flour
- A sugar sifter and/or storage unit for granulated sugar
- Racks and compartments for rolling pins, measuring spoons, etc.
- Hooks for pots & pans
- Pull-out bread boards
- Bread boxes, and sometimes a spot where you’d leave dough to rise
- Pull-out storage bins other pantry staples
And if it was a really deluxe model, it might also have a writing desk, or collapsible ironing board. Some even had built-in ant traps. (Which actually seems kinda gross…)
Why are they called Hoosier cabinets?
Though there is debate as to which Indiana company first made the cabinets, most were made in Indiana, The Hoosier State. Some believe the name comes from the Hoosier Manufacturing Company, who came up with the idea for these cabinets, hence the name. They were also located in Indiana, so it seems somewhat of a moot point.
Hoosier cabinets were made in Indiana and quickly grew in popularity. Researchers estimate there were at least 40 companies in northern Indiana making them in their heyday. The community of people there, Amish craftsmen and Dutch immigrants, provided the workers for this modern kitchen commodity in the early 1900’s.
The Coppes Commons Museum Collection
Inside the Coppes Common building in Nappanee, Indiana you’ll find dozens of Hoosier cabinets displayed. The Coppes company that produced the Coppes Napanee Kitchenettes and the Napanee Line of furniture dates back to 1876. Now the building contains bakeries and other shops and artisan stalls, but upstairs is a museum where patrons are free to wander back in time.
This looks pretty deluxe!
Peek inside, Ladies!
This one seems sensible: a flour sifter and a pie safe.
I’d be worried about getting this one dirty!
Hoosier Cabinet Antiques
As I started to mention seeing the Hoosier cabinets on the second-floor free museum at Coppes Common, I started to hear from people who fondly remembered Hoosier cabinets in their homes. They remembered the one grandma had, or the one they picked up at an antique store because it reminded them so much of their past. The cabinets evoke a nostalgia that so many of us want to possess in our homes; a reminder of the ways things used to be. A reminder of kitchens, and baking, and home.
Can you imagine using a Hoosier cabinet instead of the enormous countertops and kitchen islands we use now?
Antique cabinets, but modern in their time.
I can, a little. I can imagine its usefulness in some tiny apartments today. Or tiny homes. I think I’d prefer it to the generic space-saver designs of RVs and campers that provide little more than the ledge space of a Hoosier cabinet. Those modern micro-kitchen spaces can never compare to the functional beauty of these bygone cabinets that undoubtedly thrilled the “modern housewives” of the time. Something a happy homemaker would have wanted to show off back then.
Hoosier cabinet envy. Hhmmm… I’ll bet that was a thing.
Do Hoosier cabinets make you nostalgic?
Browsing The Atlas 
Very cool history and tour of these wonderful cabinets, I enjoyed learning more about these and seeing so many of the different types that were created in the area.
Thanks, Noel. We enjoyed wandering around and looking at all the different styles.
There is something beautiful about the simple elegance of Hoosier cabinets. You have offered us a viewing of quite an assortment. Thanks for sharing the experience.
There is something beautiful about the simple elegance of Hoosier cabinets. You have offered us a viewing of quite an assortment. Thanks for sharing the experience.
I agree. They are beautiful and functional.
I always love beautiful woodwork, Juliann. Thanks for sharing. –Curt
I love these cabinets and had no idea there was a museum dedicated to them! I’d love to tour this place!
I hope you get a chance to!
Only you can make cabinets interesting!
Super cool history, and wow, such craftsmanship! I could see these in a cool retro farmhouse!
Definitely! One of these cabinets could be a centerpiece of the decor.
Did not know this was a thing but boy are these lovely!
Thank you for sharing, Juliann! We appreciate you stopping in! –Jessica, Media & Marketing, Coppes Commons, Nappanee, IN
It was certainly my pleasure!
I could see my ex-wife loving Hoosier Cabinets. Anything antique with distress painting on it makes me think of her. Probably not a good baseline for furniture shopping. Ironically, I fell in love with Jenn, in part, because she still had cinder block furniture in her home at 40. To be fair, it’s now in the garage and scheduled for an upgrade at some time, but it’s still with us through the San Diego, Orlando, and Huntsville moves.
I’m a Hoosier by birth Juliann, and although I haven’t lived there since I was 6 years old, I fondly remember Hoosier cabinets. My grandmother had one, and it was an endless source of joy and amusement when I was growing up. Then when James and I first got married, we had one. In fact it was the ONLY cabinet we had in our spartan college rental. I can’t say that the sifter came in too handy in those days, but it was fun conversation started. Great post with excellent photos and memories. 🙂 ~Terri
Thanks, Terri! My mom had one in her old country farmhouse (as late as 2011). It just fit there, perfectly. With an old stove, too. They’re so distinctive.
I hope you get a chance to check them out when you’re back in the Hoosier state. 🙂
My mother recently passed and she had a Hoosier cabinet. A few nights ago I had a dream that I had to go and get it. My mother was a hoarder and I am not big into antiques but I remembered as a child how much I loved and how much she loved and appreciated the Hoosier cabinet. I plan on fully restoring it to its original glory. Thank you for this article it gave a lot of information about the company and also history. They just don’t make things like they used to.
Thank you so much for sharing that. Hoosier cabinets hold so much sentimental value. So pretty and practical.
I recently bought a Hoosier cabinet/hutch at an estate sale. It belonged to the grandmother roughly 100 years old. They were full blooded Italian. It has two large glass doors on top, two pull out cutting boards, two flour or sugar bins, 4 small drawers, 2 bigger drawers and 1 cabinet. Where would be the best place to get information about it? Haven’t been able to find it online.
I wonder if you can contact the museum? I’m sure they’d love to help you identify more about it.