Last month I wrote about the Once Standard Bathroom Fixtures We've Left Behind. I had so much fun looking into the past, I wondered if there were any pieces of furniture that also used to be ubiquitous that might now have us scratching our heads as to why…
Dressing table. You've gotta love Julianne Moore's glam dressing table setup (shown above) from the ultra stylish film, A Single Man. This is one that never entirely died and has certainly been making a comeback in recent years. At one time, though, it would have been standard in any "bedroom set." To not have one would have left many women confused as to where they should "put on their face".
Telephone table. My grandparents actually had one of these in their front hall when I was growing up. Part table, part chair or bench, the telephone table was the perfect place to relax while making calls. Even though we now have cordless phones, I can see the appeal — I make nearly all of my calls from one chair in my living room. Why not have a dedicated telephone table?
Pie Safe. Before refrigerators, the pie safe kept pies and all sorts of foodstuffs protected from flies and vermin. Now they're mostly used to decorate country kitchens — they make a great bookshelf for cook books.
Record Player Cabinet. This could as easily be a Victrola cabinet, or a TV cabinet, or a hi-fi. Audio-visual technology changes so quickly that it's pretty difficult for the furniture that houses it not to become obsolete in a relatively short time frame. Thankfully, today most AV equipment is so small that it doesn't require bulky furniture housing, but it's fun to look back at the marriage of furniture design and technology.
Hall Tree. In the days before closets, most Victorian homes would have had one of these in the front hall to collect hats, coats, umbrellas. My husband is advocating for a return of this useful piece of furniture noting that in our modern hallway there is nowhere to sit down to put on/ take off one's shoes. We'll see …
Is there anything I've missed? What piece of furniture do we all own now that you think will go the way of the telephone table? Let us know!
Images: 1. Still from A Siingle Man via Penny Dreadful Vintage 2. Interior Home Review, 3. Country Living, 4. Whatever Losito, 5. UAntique
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I'd like to add the Grandfather Clock to that list. It serves no practical purpose, just decoration.
I love my vanity! I bought a lovely wood desk off of craigslist, sanded that baby down and painted it hot pink! It houses all of my make-up, skincare, mirrors, hair tools.. etc. and I love it! I use it everyday, morning and night. Really helps keep everything organized!
My family owned one of those record player cabinets until the mid-90's... and it continued to play stacks of records! I thought it was the coolest piece of furniture in our living room. :)
They should definitely bring back the telephone tables (they could updated as laptop tables!) ... and the hall trees too! :)
With the onslaught of digital books I can see bookshelves becoming less and less standard in homes. Who knows, in 100 years they may be obsolete. In the meantime, I love my bookshelves stacked with beautiful books!
In the seventies/early eighties, the telephone chair and stereo cabinet(complete with eight track player!!!) were still popular. My parents had both and kept them for years! The telephone table definitely needs to make a comeback though. I think there's a photo album in my folks' basement somewhere of all the kids in my family posing for pics while pretending to talk on the phone.
Actually, I don't know a single member of my family who doesn't have a halltree.
My parents gave me the burlwood table I grew up with. Bought in the late 70's and reminds me of a page out of Sunset Magazine. I've seen that this style is making a comeback!
I remember growing up and we had a full dining room set complete with the buffet as well as a china cabinet !!! I recall using the china maybe twice a year (Thanksgiving and Christmas) and I don't know if many families do that anymore these days !!! I also recall the supercool stereo/TV console we had !!! It was so long and modern, you could close the front to hide the TV screen and we have photos of us posing in front of it !!! I wish I could get that piece back as I would retrofit/confert it into a stylish credenza and it would fit perfectly with my decor !!!
I pretty much covet all of them, but the telephone table and hall tree would be fabulous to own.
I agree with the telephone table. I have been looking for one for ages and have no luck finding one.
my parents had a hall tree... the bench flipped open and was a favorite hide-and-seek place until we got too big...
I agree with the poster who said the bookshelves may well go the way of the dinosaur, but I will be very sad when/if that happens.
We don't have a 'hall tree', but we achieved the same idea by removing the doors off of our hall closet, and adding an Eames hang-it-all and a bench.
I have to nominate the entertainment armoire.
I remember how much I wanted one 15 years ago when my husband and I were first married. Now I am see them all over craigslist for $100-200 or even free.
The sheet music holder/stand......DEFUNCT!
Does the valet stand count? http://furniture.homegardenbin.com/product/1/11883/Valet-Stand-In-Plantation-Cherry-Butler-Furniture.html
I also inherited an antique telephone stand from my grandparents... too tall for a side table or nightstand.
The TV-specific armoire has thankfully left us.
I have a smallish desk that I got from Craigslist, painted white, and now serves (among other things) as a vanity. I love it; possibly my favorite piece of bedroom furniture.
(I would also say metal typewriter stands, but they do make great vintage side tables and kitchen caddies.)
I second the entertainment center/armoire. They are all over craigslist. Getting rid of one of those monstrosities has got to make a room look instantly bigger and brighter.
Growing up I had a beautiful antique dressing table but it was always WAY to big for my small living spaces. Yesterday I found an awesome modern vanity from Made.com
http://www.made.com/
Wooden drying racks for clothes (often built into kitchens or laundry areas, along with built-in ironing boards). Used to see those a lot when I was a kid; now, not so much.
Small tables or cabinets with dividers, intended for record album storage (in the days when records actually came in heavy cardboard boxes or albums - through the 1930s or so). I found a great Art Deco one with a marquetry top years ago, refinished it, and -- LOL -- used it as a phone table (phone books and mail fit into the divided sections below). Now that phone tables *and* phone books have gone the way of the dinosaur, I use it as an end table (where I charge my phone & iPod) and to store vintage decorating magazines.
Next to vanish: television tables and cabinets scaled to fit large, deep CRT TV sets. There are already loads of them in thrift shops and yard sales as people buy newer, narrower ones to accommodate their flatscreens.
Well console televisions are gone, and TV stands are nearly gone. Giant sound speakers are nearly extinct. Coffee/cocktail tables are on a downhill slide. Kitchen step-stools are scarce (I "bought" mine with S&H Green Stamps :) And have you tried to buy a pole lamp lately? I'm talking about those with a strong spring inside the pole, which reaches from the floor to the ceiling! They were a "must-have" in the 60s!
Re: dressing table/vanity. I have my mother's dressing table, which was part of a suite of "waterfall" style bedroom furniture (circa 1938) given to her when she married in 1944. It has a huge moon mirror, and I have done my face and hair in front of it all my life (and watched my figure slowly expand).
She "antiqued" the dressing table (light olive green) in the mid-60s (tres chic!) but now it is time for me to paint it. I'm thinking ballet slipper pink or butter yellow, with some tiny painted flowers, and small touches of gold.
I have a telephone bench that serves as a hall tree, of sorts. I can sit and do my shoes while the telephone book cubby holds a file tray that catches all manner of pocket detritus, car keys, odd electronics, and the dog lead.
It's a fabulously convenient little piece of furniture for right by the door.
... and those great cocktail cabinets with those wierd and wonderful bottles, my parents had these little colored monkies to hang on the side of the cocktail glass
Last summer I re-did an extra bedroom as a fancy guestroom. I bought an antique vanity for fairly cheap and painted it white, and bought Anthropologie knobs for the drawers. It fits perfectly with the painted wrought-iron headboard and white dresser (against purple walls).
I work at a thrift store that doesn't do that brisk of business, but we got a telephone table in last week and it sold within two hours (to someone who didnt know what it was).
My parents still have their enormous stereo cabinet (from the 60s, I think, or maybe the early 70s). It's been gutted though; they store table linens in it.
i see "wardrobes" on Craigslist every once in a while, they are like free standing closets with a space for hangers on one side and usually a few drawers or shelves on the other. Typically deco/waterfall style or 40's.
i guess they haven't really been left behind because IKEA makes them, but I would like to see more made of nice wood with good design. the modern ones just look like cheap boxes.
NYC sinks never seem to have enough room to handle my beauty routine. My new apartment's bathroom doesn't have any electric sockets, I just use my desk as a vanity. It's worked very well, especially since my laptop is hooked up to my tv. Most work and internet surfing is done from my couch. I might consider covering the desk with fabric like in the photo above.
I just seen a MCM telephone table at a garage sale this past weekend... I almost snatched it up but he wanted $30.00 and it was going to require way too much work to be done to it... pity.
In the back of my mind, for years, I've wanted to buy a both a telephone table and pie safe and update them, if ever I found one at the right price and time. Would love both of those pieces.
Love a hall tree!! And now I know I have a pie safe- I had no idea, hahaha!!And yes please to a telephone table :-)
I must be old school, because I own a telephone bench. I saw it at Goodwill a few years ago, took it home and spray painted and reupholstered it. I don't use it as a telephone bench-it's my putting shoes on bench in my bedroom.
@modernsteven, I have TWO music stands in my home. Usually with music on them. But I am a musician. It's not as common as it once was for families to be able to sit around and sing/play the piano, thanks in part to our increasing use of electronics, and sadly, the decline of music education in public schools.
My daughter's house could use a hall tree. It was built in the 30s and has tiny closets for only a couple of items of clothing. No place for bulky coats and rain gear. Where did the older generations keep that stuff?
My grandmother still has here record player cabinet! I love that thing!!! She still used to the radio up until a few years ago.
I can't imagine any furniture really being defunct. Everyone has a different sense of priority. Telephone benches have multiple uses as does just about everything else I can think of. Otherwise, garage sales and antique stores would be defunct. We are all so use to planned obsolescense. I grew up in the late 50's and 60's and would kill to have some of the pieces my mother had early on. Something about old wood, old leather, and old memories that is richly grounding no matter where the thing is being used. And geez, hall trees. Totally functional, beautiful, especially if you've lived in a cooler climate. In California, not so much.
I personally think big desks are going to be a thing of the past. Or even having a desk at all. Last year I changed my office desk from a giant monstrosity to the tiniest one I could find. Just perfect for my pencil holder and my laptop. My husband doesn't use a desk at all, just keeps all of his papers/laptop in his bedside table.
My parents still have their Sony console color tv that they bought in 1981 for $1000. They use it every day, my dad is so proud of it. My home was built in the 1970s and had a vanity built in next to the tiny master bath. It was ugly laminate, I painted it and love it now. Use it every day to "put on my face".
Definitely the sewing machine table. Though the machines are (not always) often obsolete. The cast iron legs make for a great side table, i have even used it as a vanity, put a stone counter on it. drop a sink in, or place a vessel. It's perfect. One of my fave recycled items :)
As people live more paperless lives and computers get smaller and slimmer, I see desks getting smaller and filing cabinets starting to go as well.
@Tulsa_Retro: do you have a photo of your re-made hall closet? If so, please link. I'd love to see it!
The three things I don't want in my house are:
1. A grandfather clock.
2. A hall tree.
3. An armoire.
But I want my vanity back. I had one when I was a young girl and have been without one since moving to France. I'm having a vanity built in during our apartment renovation. Can't wait to use it.
I'm seeing TV armoires being converted back to an older function.
I work at a nonprofit thrift store for building materials & architectural salvage, in the DC area. We also take a limited amount of furniture.
We get plenty of TV armoires - especially from hotels that are converting to flat screens - but they sell very quickly. Some of them are bought by African and Carribean customers, to ship back home to relatives.
Most of the TV cabinets, though, are bought by 20- and 30-somethings who are living in the city. They grew up in big suburban homes, but have decided to settle down and raise kids in walkable urban communities. This means they are living in older urban rowhomes with no closets, or apartments with limited closet space. So, they are converting these TV cabinets back to the original purpose of an armoire - to store clothing!
I have another nomination for something that has disappeared from use: the dry sink. I am not exactly sure how it was used. I guess it was used in colonial times, when folks washed their faces in the morning with a pitcher of water brought in from the pump? Reproduction dry sinks made of knotty pine were cranked out in the 1970's, due to the interest in old fashioned farmhouse style, the Bicentennial, etc. However, I'm not sure what function they actually served at that point. I haven't really seen many - maybe they used them for storing liquor in the 70's?
Bring back the vanity! My new house had this big empty space in the master bath, so I repurposed a desk and mirror and chair from elsewhere in the house to create a vanity ... and I LOVE IT. It's under a skylight so it's the perfect place to sit and put on my face in the morning. If you've got the space for it, do it!
jess13, wardrobes are often simply referred to as "armoires," and many quality furniture stores offer them as part of or in addition to master bedroom suites... they're really not hard to find...
Our house (built in '57) has a built-in telephone table in the hall w/ storage underneath for a phonebook (another thing of the past).
We are also currently the stewards of the family record player console that was passed down from my grandmother. It's an amazing piece of furniture. I think they're actually becoming a pretty coveted furniture piece since MP3s have become so popular. I find that there's no sense of ownership and collectability since CDs are becoming obsolete and a lot of people are turning to the warmth of vinyl. Here's a little restoration project we did on ours:
http://www.ourmidcentury.com/2011/04/this-past-weekend-we-gave-our-record.html
Among other furniture items, my husband recently inherited his family's beautiful wood dictionary stand. At least, that's what they used it for. It's possible they also were used to display the family Bible or sheet music. We put our large illustrated dictionary on it, although we usually just look up words electronically.
Also, valet chairs. My father in law got one for Christmas last year and I had never even heard of one. Now I see them popping up at antiques stores all the time.
remember back before laptops when everyone had those ugly computer desks with the pull out keyboard trays?
Does anybody actually make old-fashioned glass-front secretary desks anymore? With the slanting cover that folded out into a writing surface and a couple of drawers underneath? Suppose you could rewire for a computer. Where else can you display your family pictures? The piano that used to hold them
is already gone.
Wow, I never thought about it, but I have every single one of the things listed in the post in my house. Guess I am stuck in the past?
We have a telephone bench in our study, which I absolutely love using. The funny thing is, we don't have a proper landline, we actually use skype, but run it through vintage rotary phones. I like to think it makes for a nice old school, new school mix. :)
the dressing table/ aka a vanity / needs to come back. We women--we're still primping and should have the option of creating a special place for such challenging work. Makeup tossed on the top of a dresser just doesn't feel special. I'm lucky enough to have my mom's, but there are not enough options out there
I had to laugh because even though we are in our early 40's we have many of the items mentioned by other commenters and I would NEVER think of getting rid of them. My husband hangs his uniform each night on his valet stand so as not to wake me during the summer when he leaves for work early in the morning. We have an old (civil war era/family heirloom) hutch where we keep our china that gets used for holidays/company/birthdays/or just "fancy" meals. My steamer trunk holds linens. The LARGE folding drying rack is used for drying herbs, linens, winter gear plus overflow pasta. The SMALL drying rack is used to dry pasta and more herbs.
As a kid growing up we never had the T.V. or stereo console!
Not many people need those elaborately decorative cigarette stands anymore, thank goodness.
However, I'm actually buying one of those obsolete entertainment armoires this week; trading my big one for a slim corner unit with doors. Even though flat screen TVs take up less table space than the CRTs, it still doesn't mean I want to look at it all the time.
Tyepwriter table.
Since we have one bathroom, I bought a waterfall bedroom vanity and have used it for years. I cannot understand why they ever went out of style. I even have my hair dryer and curling iron hanging from the back of the triple mirror. My daughter goes to my room whenever she wants to primp. My husband is not allowed to leave anything on it, it's a "girls only" space.
The good old Ice Box, which makes a for a beautiful piece of furniture. My friend uses hers as a bar.
My father had a valet on which he would hang his suit and hat nightly to air out. (I'm not THAT old; he was in the FBI and they all wore fedoras.) It had an electric shoe shiner that mesmerized me. I would prefer that to a clothes tree or a chair for things that can be worn again but I don't want to stuff back in the closet, but it hasn't occurred to me till now to look for one.
I live in an 80's house now, but when house hunting I coveted those older kitchens with the fold-down ironing board., mostly because they included the mini ironing board for sleeves. I hate ironing sleeves.
I just bought a house with three bedrooms and I'm converting the smallest to a dressing room. I am PSYCHED to have a vanity! Leaning over the sink in the bathroom has always been a pain, but I never had the room for a real vanity. I found this one http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70162862 at ikea and it's pretty cute. Doesn't have the character that a vintage find would have, but I like the lines.
I've seen several amazingly cool record player/radio cabinets lately and for cheap. If only I had the space right now (and they weren't so bloody heavy) I'd totally buy one and figure out how to re-purpose it to house my stereo components.
Great post! I'd love to have room for a dressing table.
Another extinct item is a dry sink. We use one in our son's room for a toy cabinet. I also use a jelly cabinet for canned goods. My parents still use their stereo cabinet, too.
Seems like the record cabinets are making a comeback. Years ago, you couldn't even give them away, now folks are asking upwards of $100-$200 bucks for one on Craigslist...but I wonder if they are actually selling them for those prices?
mrsyow: I think computer desks as we know them may indeed become obsolete - for their original purpose, anyway. You can still put a laptop on the keyboard pull-out, but with the popularity of the iPad, I think we'll all have tablets in the near future.
A whatnot shelf.....corner model or wall model.....you seldom see them anymore.
EclecticDS - That's funny because my folks just bought a curio cabinet and love it, houses all their crystal and vintage milk glass collectibles.
Tasterspoon - Lowes/Home Depot have a fold down ironing board in a cabinet that you can mount to your wall.
I say, entertainment centers and computer desks because technology changes too quickly for tech specific furniture to be profitable/current.
If our homes continue to move toward living in a smaller space with multipurpose rooms, I'd say you'd see less buffets, china cabinets, formal dining rooms in general but not completely extinct.
Years ago, in the early 90s, a Japanese Department store in Hawaii, Shirokiya used to carry these on the floor vanities. You sit on a zabuton (pillow) cross legged at the vanity which a mirro and little drawers. In my early 20s, $300 for one of these beauties seemed so out of my reach but I've always regretted not buying one.
I've been seeing telephone tables all over Dallas CL lately and have been thinking about how cute they are. They should totally make a comeback.
Umm....I have a grandfather clock that I dearly love, an antique hall tree in my foyer that holds hats, umbrellas, keys, and dog treats, and one of my favorite pieces is a pie safe with original green paint that I picked up off the side of the street (still amazes me to remember seeing it) in my south FL neighborhood. I'm starting to feel very old fashioned here! But I wouldn't trade my pieces for anything!
I would LOVE a hall tree just like that one!
Interesting post, lol. I think some of this is class-related...I don't have a flat screen tv, so I still have a tv stand with drawers and shelves for my tv, dvd player and *gasp* vcr, lol. I also have bookshelves, a hope chest, and piano and would have a hall tree if I had the space. My aunt still has her record player console and I get it in her will, lol. I've only had a laptop for a year or so, so I have my large desk with keyboard tray and don't see it going anywhere anytime soon, lol. So...it isn't all going away for us all, lol! I'm sure it also varies by geographic region and by age.
@ricestein - I'll have to take a picture tonight and post it.
The ashtray pedestal has happily gone bye-bye. I have a couple that I use as plant-stands.
Stereo Racks/Towers
Pier & Bridge Bedroom Sets
Waterbeds
Library Wall Units
Tea/Cocktail Carts
Fireplace Fenders - particularly those with upholstered seats
Barrister Bookcases
Rolltop Desks
Hoosiers
Can't believe how much of this stuff I have and use. My favorite is the Sheet Music cabinet I am using as a night table on one side of my bed. Looks perfect with my 1946 Bedroom Set made of Dark Cherry that belonged to my parents when they were first married. I also use a solid wood coat tree from the 40's in my bedroom. It holds frequently used scarves and belts and the front hook hold the outfit I just wore or will wear the next day. My Danish Modern Sewing cabinet is now used as a Lady's desk and the matching Cedar Chest as a bench in my guest room. Where else would I store my winter comforters and drapes then the summer linen items? My built in bookcases will never go out of style in my lifetime but I could sure live without this Grandfather clock!
My parents had one of the gigantic, almost-as-long-as-the-couch stereo cabinets with an 8-track player until the late 1980s. (By the end, it was only used for playing my mother's collection of Christmas 8-tracks at the holidays!)
Once in 1977, she hit the stereo with her Camaro, after driving the car through the wall of the garage and into the living room. Didn't hurt the stereo at all.
(Also, Mom still has a telephone chair at her house!)
Totally agree that large entertainment units/consoles are falling out of style.
Like others, I love my vanity/dressing table. Living in an older home with a small bathroom and pedestal sink necessitated the purchase. But, I think even after we move to a bigger home (with bathroom counter space) I'll keep my vanity. I like having that small peaceful space all to myself.
@dkzody, the older generations didn't HAVE many clothes, parkas were for Alaskans, and people kept most things in dressers, not closets. If you only own five things needing hangers, you don't need a big closet for them.
I have a small writing desk in my bedroom that is set up as a pseudo-vanity. I use it as a place for handwriting notes and thank you cards and to display family photographs. The mirror above it reflects the trellises and fountain on my balcony. I have and love a beautiful grandfather clock. I love that if I wake up in the night I will hear the chimes and know the time, it's ticking is comforting to me. I recently sold a large library wall unit but only because I had a wall of built-ins installed when I remodeled. I have a Chinese wedding cabinet that houses my flat panel TV on a pull out shelf and stores all of my electronics, printer etc. I bought at auction a Butlers desk whose upper bookcase houses my valuable books and keeps them dust free, it's other cabinets and drawers store all of my office supplies. Many old pieces of furniture can be adapted to other uses with a little creativity.
I use a typewriter table as a vanity. Sort of. It's in the bathroom and holds all my stuff. I'm about to get one of those TV armoires but will store linens in it since I use the linen closet, which is in the bathroom, for bathroom things.
Cedar chests. Do young girls and brides-to-be still want cedar chests?
@SunnyBlue, I have my mother's cedar chest. I refinished it this year and it is now used as my coffee table. I store blankets inside of it.
My parents have a "halltree" but here we call them hall stands.
& whoever mentioned clothes airers - here in Australia, clothes horses (no idea why) are still very popular - it saves electricity on drying clothes when you can just use the heating that is already on: we can dry two loads of the airer a day in winter when our heat is on, and dont bother having a clothes dryer at all.
Amazing. Every furniture item previously mentioned (with the exception of the waterbed) is an item that my family, my friends or I still use on a regular basis. Vanities, Governor Winthrop desks, secretaries, sideboards, hope chests, armoires, Hoosier cabinets, grandfather clocks, Danish teak hi-fi sets...the list continues. Obsolescence is in the eye of the beholder.
Oh goodie! Another opportunity to use the word "ubiquitous"! Wheeeeee!!!!!
I know an ashtray is not a piece of furniture (well, in some cases I guess it was) but I have not been in a home or anywhere recently that has one out. Maybe a few keep one in a drawer, but not out and as decorative as they used to be- this is a GOOD thing!
I have a beautiful grandfather clock. I use it (gasp) to find out what time it is.
I'm 47 years old and haven't been without a vanity since the age of 7. Leaning over a bathroom sink to fix your hair or put on makeup is barbaric! Since downsizing recently, I've combined functions and use my dressing table as both vanity and desk. Works fabulously.
I have several family members who still have their old telephone tables. But that's not what we call them down here in Mississippi. Nope, they're called "gossip benches."
Also, I don't have a single female relative who doesn't have an old sewing machine table. They all use them as night stands or end tables.
And my nearly 92 year old great-grandfather still makes the girls in the family cedar chests. Some keep them at the foot of the bed to store quilts or memoirs, though I do have an aunt who always used hers as a coffee table.
Southerners have really held on to a lot of these things.
I have always loved telephone tables. Years ago I found a Danish version of one that is all wood and the finest example of one, style-wise, that I had ever seen. People who come to my house and are familiar with what it is usually go ga-ga over it. I'll try and take a photo and post it sometime!
I rue the day my parents chopped up their teak 60's stereo cabinet and used it for firewood, after they couldn't unload it for $5 at a garage sale. If they'd held onto it for just a few years longer, it would have still been around when I was old enough to appreciate it and snag it for myself.
This is exactly what mine looks like:
http://tampabay.reachoo.com/ads/140743268
Bracket-hanging teak "wall units" went away after the 1970's. My parents had a beautiful one from some Scandinavian store. Now I'm trying hard to find one on Craigslist, and can't. Will we feel the same way about pine armoires in 40 years? Hard to imagine.
A dressing table, grandfather clock, and secretary desk would make my top three most coveted. It was a tight race, the-even-more-defunct Wardian case (what, terrariums are back, right?) and the fainting couch each kept jockeying for position to launch back onto the top three.
Books might be obsolescent but so am I. Never ever getting rid of real paper books and their bookcases.
And my husband wants a real not-a-keyboard piano.
Sorry, but your choice of things to "let go of" is completely lame. Depending on your home, maybe some of these wouldn't work, but they are all beautiful in their own right. Could find nothing here to completly discard forever.
I have a huge cedar chest, circa 1940, and love it. I do a lot of sewing and it's perfect for storing all my fabric.
i want a telephone table !
CD cabinets.............. gone.
The hall tree....How wise and practical was people then........(and yes... they had space in their homes!!)
I would love to have something similar in function (not in size) in my tiny apartment. I'm basically a DIYer so I'll eventually figure something out. There you can leave all the stuff you bring in or put all you need to take out so you don't forget it while going out in a rush....
@stephanieschmid I think a big part of the reason families and friends no longer sit around the piano is due to TV, internet and video games competing for entertainment time. When the power went out on my street for three weeks, people started coming over just to hear me practice!
I recently purchases a sewing cabinet. I had been searching for years to find a stylish way to store my machine. I think they are called project tables now.
NEWS FLASH....
The telephone table is actually making a well deserved comeback and we sell it in our store!!
The Caracola is a unqiue and fabulous telephone chair/table and is available in an extensive choice of stunning fabrics. It's the perfect accompaniment to sit back and relax whilst catching up with friends.
http://www.hatfieldsofcolchester.com/viewrange.cgi?productid=2048
@ricestein -
Here's a picture I took last night. It was an iphone picture, sorry about the quality.
http://imgur.com/zKmUb
Not only has some furniture been outmoded or repurposed, so have some architectural details! My home was built (around 1925) with an arched nook for the telephone. Unfortunately it is one inch to short for my grandfather clock, so it houses the filing cabinet.
I'm a guy, so I don't have much use for a vanity. But my poor wife! She climbs ontop of the bathroom counter, places her feet in the sink, and proceeds to do her make-up and hair!
Totally threw off my schedule to read this article;but it brought back such pleasant memories. Now that I think about it,I would love to have the blue velvet livingroom set my parent had, & a blue glass topped coffee table that was a bar inside, bottles on one end and glasses on the other! And I'd love to have a telephone table for my hallway.
Although I love contemporary furniture & minimalism, I think I could work those pieces in!
Sunnyblue how fortunate you are to have pieces that your mother & grandmother owned and designed to their own taste to make them their own! Apparently creativity runs in the blood! I hope you have a daughter of your own to pass it down to, even if she keeps it for years not using it, just because you gave it to her, and it has a history. Not just a history as in used furniture, but a family history. How lovely!
And I actually laughed out load about the S&H stamps! I never could save enough of them to get anything. I just remember the corners of the books curling up & pissing me off!
I'd love to have a few of the 50's colorful ashtrays, never smoked, just like to use them for "candy dishes" another outdated notion. (Sigh) I have a wrought iron lamp with a broad 3 footed bottom that I was musing about turning into a hall tree. Glad to see giant speakers die, but the way things go, I won't be a bit surprised to see waterbeds make a comeback! And my clothes valet has turned out to be the showercurtain pole, though that is sooo tacky, but I guess its a sign of the times! :(
Never forget the golden rule: One man's trash is another man's treasure! :)
@Peter R, your wife must really be tiny! Give the girl a break! Go to a yard sale, buy a desk, redo it, make it into her vanity. Lots of work for you, lots of love from her forever! That's how the female mind works!
Umm... definitely didn't realize hall trees were extinct! I wouldn't be able to work one into my modern apartment but my mother has always had one (similar in function to the one pictured -- shelf for keys, drawer for gloves/spares, a big mirror, hooks for hat and coats, space on the bottom for boots) as do many members of my extended family. Maybe we're just old fashioned!
Wow, what a great post.
CD towers seemed useless then and now.
Small computer desks I think can be repurposed as vanities. The larger ones can be used as a make-shift dining table with some tweaking. I love, my old end tables from the 60's, and could never part with those. I purchased an old console TV cabinet at a thrift store for $35.00 (thankfully without the TV), recovered the sliding doors, and use it to store my old record albums, CDs and audiobooks. Would love to have an old telephone table. I could have bought one years ago, but passed on it. Sigh...
This post exposes me as the dinosaur I am: my TVs are tube models and I haven't replaced them because they work just fine. And when they die, I'm going to put flat screens in the armoires that house them, because despite living in the middle of nowhere, my neighborhood has had several break-ins where the only things stolen were flat-screen TVs. (And I'll take the boxes to the dump at night.)
Let's bring back hall trees! I've seen so many posts about "landing strips" and other entryway tricks - when a modern hall tree is really what people (like me!) need. I'm desperately looking for an affordable, modern version.
Now I also definitely want to look into a dressing table, since the master bedroom in our 1920s house has no master bathroom. Maybe I can rig one up in my office closet - it has a window...
The telephone table is also known as a
GOSSIP SEAT/chair - I love that name! I can just love imagining all the woman who earned it it's name.
I'm an old flea marketer, and gossip benches/telephone tables always were hot sellers. Stereo consoles were repurposed as blanket chests, with small posters or cool fabric set into the speaker housings, and pre-1950's models make great bar cabinets. I've even seen an old Victrola case lined with mirrors and velvet for an etagere. China cabinets don't sell well, make good bookcases but e-books will make that obsolete.
I used an Art Nouveau sewing cabinet for floppy disk storage and then repurposed it into a vanity. A 1960's model is the ideal size for my boss's printer table. In old houses with scarce closet space, those TV armoires will be prized for storage.
My suggestion on CD towers is to turn them sideways, mount them on the toolroom or garage wall, and slot tools and hardware into them.
What goes around comes around -- I've got an antique sewing table with a marble top which I use.... get this.... as a sewing table. It's nice and heavy and way more sturdy than a lot of the cheaper modern tables on the market.
I've been meaning to post pictures of my 1960s dry bar/hi-fi/fireplace/cabinet/thing and this article finally made me do it! This was the one piece I ABSOLUTELY INSISTED on getting from my grandparents' house when they passed away. I thought it was the coolest thing when I was a kid...
The telephone table is also sometimes called a gossip bench, which I think is a really funny [but apt] name. I love the one in the photo!
This is so random, I have to toss it out there: a gout stool.
I have a modern vanity from west elm and while I love it, I do regret purchasing it since it has limited storage space for my beauty products. I should have looked for an older piece with more storage!
Magazine racks
Pianos used to be a much more common piece of furniture... not so much anymore.
I have always wanted a vanity/dressing table. They're beautiful and glamorous.
Hey! I've got a telephone table, and it actually has a telephone on it! It doesn't work but it looks good!
Not needed any more? Is a chip pan too off the wall? Or off the cooker I suppose.
And I would love an old stereo unit, but my wife wouldn't. Guess that means I'm not getting one!
I'm just chuckling, thinking how ironic it is that the "vanity" in my bathroom is an old mahogany Victorian music cabinet that had been turned into a humidor before finding it's way to my house.
I love my mom's tree hall. It's the homiest part of home. You can tell who's home before you've even stepped foot in just from the keys hanging. And you;ll never have to wonder where that umbrella (you haven;t needed for the last 3 months) is.
I think having a piano in one's own home is kind of becoming extinct. I don't think that many parents encourage their children to take piano lessons or become musicians. The ones that do tend to opt for guitar, don't they?
In some Brooklyn brownstones those hall tree things are permanently built-in, and they look amazing, and usually with such an amazing full-length mirror, which is great to be able to see yourself before you leave for the day.
I have a telephone bench that serves as a hall tree, of sorts. I can sit and do my shoes while the telephone book cubby holds a file tray that catches all manner of pocket detritus, car keys, odd electronics, and the dog lead.
It's a fabulously convenient little piece of furniture for right by the door.
freestanding closet