What was inside all the boxes?
We now get to see!
Close your eyes. Imagine it’s 1948. You recently ordered a big set of Youngstown Steel Kitchen cabinets. The delivery truck has just arrived. The delivery men tote the big boxes into your garage. They begin to open them up. You are so excited!
Now: Open your eyes. It’s 2015 — not 1948 — but we all get to experience the thrill of opening up all the boxes! Yes: Today we get to see the very first photos of the big set of New Old Stock Youngstown Steel Kitchen cabinets that reader Ben recently discovered in storage. As you may recall, we first showed these cabinets — but still hidden in their boxes — in this story earlier this month.
They are just as pretty — just as shiny and new — as they day they were packed into their boxes. So pretty! So shiny! So new!
And woah, Nellie, hang on, because, there is a 1948 General Electric stove to go with. It is brand new, too.
Ben said the price tag was still on it: $270.
In case you didn’t catch that: Brand new. Reader Janet in ME piped right in and said it’s a GE Airliner. A GE Airliner! Woot! Our readers are So Smart. Thank you, Janet in ME!
Not one crumb new.
Apparently, not one scratch new. It was all crated up.
Brand spanking new. Oh my goodness.
Never messed with new.
New new new new new. It doesn’t get much better than this.
But wait, it does get better than this. The best part, imho: New Old Stock Cusheen vinyl countertops to match up with the Youngstown Steel Kitchen cabinet bases.
There are a lot of steel kitchen cabinets around (of course, not NOS), and there are a lot of GE ranges around (ditto) — but pristine Cusheen countertops? These are flipping amazing.
Ben says that the Cusheen vinyl is adhered straight onto steel. As you can see in the photo above, there is a steel channel underneath and multiple short channels behind the backsplash to reinforce the structure. What I mean to say: There is no wood substrate to these countertops! They are Cusheen-on-steel. Ben says it’s 16 gauge. It’s honking heavy stuff.
You screw the countertops right onto the cabinets. I think those are the screws, above.
Note: The drainboard sink was used; Ben says it’s in great shape, though. Also: The sink front was used and needs some work; Ben says the paint has yellowed, and it will need to be repainted to match the other cabinets. Back story seems to be: The complete kitchen was purchased back in ’48 or ’49 with a remodel in mind. Obviously, the remodel never happened. But the owners used the sink base and the sink in another location. In addition, there likely were wall cabinets — but these were also used in another project, long gone.
What is the total tally of what was found? Ben has not made up a list — but he took photos of the boxes, and they are in the slide show, if you want to count.
Ben wants to sell these
What is going to happen to these cabinets? Ben wants to sell them. I really think they belong in a museum and am reaching out to my museum friends right away today to see if they can help get these things to a museum. Meanwhile, Ben is open to offers. He wants to sell everything as a set. (UPDATE: See below; sold. — great follow up story!)
Update: How the story ends
- UPDATE: The cabinets went to a museum — a result of our story! See how the story ends by reading this story here.
More about Youngstowns and Cusheen:
- Must see: “The Mullinaires” sing the praises of Youngstown Steel Kitchen Cabinets in 1953. Classique!
- See our story about Cusheen countertops here. It was an alternative to linoleum, available in a variety of rich colors.
- See the original Cusheen countertops in Brian and Keri’s kitchen here.
- Click here to see this late-1950s catalog showing these countertops — and lots of pretty Youngstown kitchens.
Yowza. Eight years nine-and-a-half years (yowza, I just checked — it’ll be 10 years soon!) into doing this blog daily. Just when I think we will run out of stories, stuff like this comes at us. Yay!
Thank you so much, Ben, for sending all the photos. What a great thing you did by rescuing these! Be sure to tell whoever buys them about RetroRenovation.com and to give them our contact info — we want to see where they land!
CONTINUE to next page to see the SLIDE SHOW — 80 double-sized photos:
Tips to view slide show: Click on any image… it will enlarge to 1000 pixels wide on your screen … click anywhere to move forward, and look for previous and next buttons within photo to move back or forth… you can start or stop at any image:
LIsa Stubbe says
These are amazing cabinets Oh the range & the sink to die for. What I would do for a set like this! Please keep us updated! Things are not made the same as they used to be .( even though I was not even around even thought of when they were made ) I would love to see the outcome of these ! My mind is going craz craz to think of how many different ways to mix this set with some old and a little bit of new !
Awesome story
Thx for sharing
lisaStubbe
Bobbie says
When I saw this story posted, I audibly gasped. I’ve been waiting for this day since the first story about them was posted. I’m in mid-century (new) love!
Roger says
Has anyone contacted the Smithsonian to see if they might be interested in acquiring? This kitchen unit would rotate very well at the American History Museum!
RAnderson says
What an amazing find! It’d be a shame to put them into service now, after being undisturbed for 70 years! We have had the same conundrum – a couple of years ago we found on CL an Antique Copper 1956 Chambers In-A-Wall oven that has never been used. It was stored in a basement of a very upscale year-round lake house for a kitchen update that for some reason never happened. It still has its paper wrapping on the broiler pan, paper label stuck to the inside of the door, perfect unused nickel plated (!) oven racks, and all the original unused factory books and manual. Everything looks like new because it is! We bought it for use in a vacation home, but have since decided that it’d be a crime to put into service what might be the only new 1956 Chambers oven in the world, so we bought a nice Coppertone ’60s GE wall oven to use instead. Finding the right home for the Chambers here in upstate NY will be our next challenge. They are still out there! Roger A.
Cynthia says
Fantabulous! I’m most interested in how (and why) a set of really big, heavy boxes full of cabinets and a stove simply got stored away and forgotten for nearly 70 years. Why were only the sink base and wall cabinets used (assuming they were part of the original order); why did they decide against the remodel, or perhaps there were circumstances beyond their control? Something big must have happened, for the purchasers of these expensive items to have abandoned their plans. Did they intend to return the cabinets or resell them, but never got around to it? Did they suddenly decide to go with wooden cabinets instead? Or did a family tragedy prevent completion? The Mystery of the Lost Metal Kitchen Remodel.
pam kueber says
And so it shall remain, forevermore!
Karen says
Be still my heart! It is all so freaking awesome!
SherrSherri says
These are beautiful to see in their glory years. My house was built in 1948 and I have the original cabinets in my kitchen. My counter tops are white though. I do not have the stove kitchen. Thank you for posting these.
T.J. Blazek says
Too bad the original purchaser didn’t also get the Youngstown Kitchens Jet Tower Dishwasher!
mimi says
I have enjoyed reading this dialog *almost* as much as seeing the photos. How nice to hear these fond memories from all over the country. We’ve got a great history in common, important to remember. Thanks, Pam.
pam kueber says
You’re welcome, Mimi. And thanks for the thanks – it truly always means a lot. YES: We have a FANTASTIC COMMUNITY! xoxoxo
mimi says
I just discovered your site early in 2015 while searching for my own 50s rancher. Found it, still awaiting closing though. In any event, read your posts every day now, and over the course of the year, have read most archives as well. Thanks is all due to you for the creativity and integrity you have put into this work. It is so important to keep the best parts of our history alive; you’re doing it! I appreciate it very much, Pam.
pam kueber says
Thank you, Mimi. It really means a lot. Thanks especially for noting our goal of integrity. Every darned affiliate link – conspicuously noted, etc.! 🙂 Congrats on your new/old house! Send us pics when you’re in and it’s decorated and you’re ready for prime time.
Amy says
This was so AWESOME to see! I have two metal kitchens and I use them as display pieces and nothing in as great of condition as NEW! Hope these found a wonderful loving home!