~ The Ice Man Cometh~

Do you remember when the Ice Man came every other day....Of course not and neither do I...Hey I'm old but even I had an electric frig growing up ha ha!! Even if it did have a huge fan on top and was named "Cold Spot"
Remember I told you I had the Ice Box that matched my dining room set....it came from the same estate sale in upper New york....Its also from ca.1880 This I also have in my Dining room...
I know I have allot of stuff in this room...but its really a big dining room remember I had this room added on in 1996 just for these pieces I have show you so far....
The top half is all zinc on the inside and that's where you would have put your ice...the bottom half was for your food....I just loved the beveled mirror on this....to this day I have never seen another one like this...But it was all made for this home in New York..

Again winged lions or Griffiths as they are called...

I love all the wood cravings on this...

See that piece at the bottom well that piece you can move toward you so you could put the drip pan under it to catch all the water waste....You would have to empty that pan a few times a day...

Just a picture of the side of the Ice Box....again all quarter saw oak....

Now I had many ask me about the term quarter sawn or tiger oak also another term used for this type of wood....Quarter sawn really didn't get used much after 1900 because it was not cost factor and allot of waste of wood....

The Quartersawing Method

The Quartersawing Method places these rays on the face of the board, revealing the distinctive stripe or 'ray fleck' running across the grain that is the signature of quartersawn oak. According to Gustav Stickley "The quartersawing method of cutting...renders quartersawn oak structurally stronger, also finer in grain, and, as shown before, less liable to warp and check than when sawn in any other way." Quartersawing fell out of favor in the first half of this century because it yields less lumber per tree and takes more labor than plainsawing. Because almost all oak furniture today is plainsawn, we associate the quartersawn figure with prized period pieces. Therefore, this unique figure is an important ingredient in accurately recreating the look of turn-of-the-century furniture.

Plainsawn Lumber

Plainsawn Lumber is used in most oak furniture today. Here boards are sawn from around the perimeter of the log so the growth rings are essentially parallel with the surface. The ‘ray fleck’ appears only on the edges of the boards, if at all. Plain sawing produces many wide, clear boards with a pronounced 'cathedral' figure mixed with straighter grain. Plainsawn oak has a coarser, more textural look that draws attention away from the lines of the piece toward the surface itself. This textural quality tends to give furniture a more rustic or ‘country’ look, whereas the quartersawn figure is more refined and shows off the rectilinear lines of Prairie and Arts & Crafts furniture more clearly.

Well guys I sure hope I didn't bore you too much again with more of my Antiques...Oh the stories these could tell ha ha!!

A couple of my blog friends said they would love to buy a ticket to come visit...hey to all of you if you want to come see my collection the admission is FREE to all my friends...May all of you have a GREAT weekend...I guess we have another Big snow strom coming in this weekend...Good time for me to clean house....

From my mountain top to yours until next time