Posted 13 years ago
oldschool79
(1 item)
Its an all Maple Wood Corner Hutch. made by the St. Johns Tabletop Co. in Cadillac, Michigan. They're stamp is literally burned into the wood on the underside of each shelf (you know its old now, modern times use flimsy removeable stickers); it was a company that ran from 1907-1930ish. Also has a limited run number on the back side of it " I33K OLD AMBER 12/75, thinking it's NO.12 of 75 made. now to find out how many actually exist still.? Don't know much more than that, I'm going to attempt to call the Cadillac-Wexton public library in the coming days to see if I can get more info sent via email or usps. The info over the internet is quite vague.
How I got it? Well, my wife and I live in Ketchikan, Alaska, a small, tight-nit community in SE Alaska and are looking into buying our home we currently rent in, so we are constantly scoping facebooks' salecycles for deals to fill our space. Today she found an item for the end of our bed for $25 and we went to go pick it up. Upon entering the young ladies' home she told us that it used to belong to her grandfather and since his passing they wanted to sell everything and put the home up for sale, at that moment, I thought maybe there is something more to this adventure. Tables everywhere with stuff on them, magazine stacks, book stacks, blankets, knickknacks, it was denitely an Estate sale. We checked out the item for our bed, paid her and then turned around and like a shimmering light from heaven I was blinded by it for a moment.
Adjusting my eyes I see this corner hutch that appears to be made out of wood rather than todays cheap particlewood. I said no way and began inspecting it further. Yep, solid maple. Single pane glass door on top. Real wood cabinet panel on bottom door. Burn stamped and from Michigan. the only words spoken out of my mouth were how much?! she replied $100.00. I said yes before my wife had a chance to say no or argue the use of the item.
If anyone can help me out I thought it would be Mike and Frank in determining an approximate value for it. Whether or not it is of any worth, I love it! It screams American Made, not something u can see too much of anymore; its got rustic value, old world prestige and a long history im sure, as to how it made it from Cadillac, MI to all the way up here in Alaska. I'm proud to have this piece in my home as proud as I am to be an American.
I spotted a corner hutch very similar looking at a local antique store (I'm in south Florida)--St. Johns mark and all--and we've been wondering as to the age of it as well. Either way, both my husband and I love our corner hutch and plan to try and build our dining and living room furniture around it. What sort of style do you think it is (I am horrible at that sort of thing)?
I just bought a small china cabinet in a antique store in Greenville MI. and it is the same style as the hutch and made by the St John Co. in Cadillac MI. My numbers on the back read 231X Old Amber and 4/71. So I believe it was made in April 1971. The only thing I know is the company was in Cadillac from 1905 until 1985. Hope this helps.