Retro Renovation

Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

Home / Kitchen / Appliances & Decor

Vintage kitchen cabinet swing-out shelf storage contraption: What is it?

pam kueber - Updated: February 18, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

kitchn handy rotating shelf holders

Kersten went to an open house yesterday then wrote me right away, all excited:

Hi Pam!

Just got back from a walk through of a time capsule home (OMG! OMG!) and saw these inside one of the kitchen cabinets. Any idea what they are used for? I’m stumped! (And so was the realtor.) As you can see, they swivel. Did you notice how the wood is cut for these specifically?  Love that.

Thanks,

Kersten

In following emails, Kersten also wanted to point out: The cupboard shelf edges are actually routed to fit these thinga-ma-bobs.

vintage stove in 1950s kitchen

I also asked her why she is at an open house, since we know she has a cutie mid century home of her own — which we just featured. Is she house-shopping?

1950s yellow bathroom

She answers:

Not really, but whenever I see a time capsule listing, I always check it out.  (Then when it is sold, I show up with a potted plant and tell the new owner that I’ll offer to pay for the things they tear out.) The realtors get a big kick out of how much I adore these houses.

Kersten, please don’t take this the wrong way, but I love you. Thank you for sending these photos, you have made my day. I’ve never seen one, ever! So: Aaaaahhhhhh, to see something altogether new — a strange, simple and beautiful, unidentified 1950s kitchen gadget species — still running free, undisturbed, in its natural habitat….Like you, I would have been all goosebumpy and excited and jumping up and down and making the realtors think I was a rare bird, indeed.

Note, I’ve seen Kitch’n Handy cup holders — long, ruler-like assemblies with cup-hooks that you screw into the bottom of a wood shelf and then pull in and out like a drawer. Actually, I think I bought a NOS one from ebay last year and have it stashed somewhere. There might have been one on the bay recently.

Okay, so, moreover:  What the heck are these woddities (“wonderful oddities”) for, given their design?? Each of the three rings swivels out independently…. Why? What would really fit in there?

Surely some reader who grew up with one will know in a flash. Who’s the smartie today?

Reader Interactions

Comments are closed. 

71 comments

Comments

    • BungalowBILL says

      I think it just means that it’s for all those smaller dishes and bowls we usually stack on top of the bigger ones. Remember, dishes, as well as portions, were smaller back then. Our house growing up had a total of 8 cabinets in the kitchen for a family of 5. Space was at a premium.

      • BungalowBILL says

        Our GE refrigerator had a central post and the shelves swung around in circles. No digging in the back for things. It spun to you. It’s still in the basement and works but doesn’t get cold. Anyone that can drag the dinosaur up the stairs can have it. lol

        • Lou Meigs says

          Bill, WHERE DO YOU LIVE!!!!! No. Seriously! When we bought our house a few years ago we found out the GE fridge with lazy susan shelves had been changed out just one month prior and we have spent the last 3 years looking for another one! 🙂

  2. Cee says

    I wouldn’t trust my plates on one of those! Especially since they don’t have any sort of ring on the bottom to hold them in. Cool idea but, you’d definitely have to have the right kind of dishes.

  3. Lauren says

    Yep – like the image in the link above, the plates “rested” (carefully!) within the rings..!

  7. Christa says

    A plate rack was my first thought…then I went back through the comments…and lookee that, I was right!
    So many wonderful mid century “space savers” and organizers …obviously these are not new things and ideas, they have been around forever! ( at least as long as we have had “stuff” to organize.

    • Kersten Falvey says

      Christa, saw your post on our bathroom story, and you had asked about the bar shaped light above the mirror. I found it (FREE!) at a garage sale!

  9. dawn says

    We have a couple of Kitch’n Handy cup holders — one I use to hang our measuring cups and the other is holding vintage mugs. As I told you in my email, this is the best kitchen I’ve ever cooked in because it is oh so built for me to be productive!

  10. Maryanna says

    Those cabinets are in fantastic condition! I also love the detailed routing job they did, too. What a great little house! 🙂