The Armoire Story

Pardon me for the delay in updating this blog. Rehab is harder now, takes 90 minutes out of my day but the progress is off the chart.  Most of the time I am without my cane, working resistance vs weights.  Today have walked the halls and the steps in the building to the tune of 800 yards; amazing thing is getting up and down the steps much easier but still get into the ice as soon as back in room.  Pat has been walking with me, spotting on the steps and making sure that everything stays in line as I walk; of course she might just enjoy the view from behind!  Weather has made it hard to get much outside, temp isn't the problem, but ice, frozen snow and rain add to the difficulty and I definitely don't want to fall down.

Have some pictures of a piece of furniture that has traveled with us since the mid 80's.  I was teaching PE at St. Gregory's school in Maryville at the time; classes were in the big play room, no gym, so space as at a premium.  In one corner was a pile of boards plus the frame of some kind of cabinet; it was continually getting stepped on, hit with balls and the like and was always in the way.  After several months, I approached the Sister who was the principal (and I am so sorry that I can't remember her name because she was one of the best people I ever worked for) about how to dispose of the piece.  She always accused me of drinking the sacramental wine that was stored in the PE teacher's office.  She didn't want to throw it away because it had been moved several times into the new facility but had fallen into disrepair and she really didn't know what to do with it.  She suggested that I just take it home if I wanted it; after going back and starting to put some pieces back together I saw some really good possibilities- my thought was that if I just took this I might make the "Big Guy" angry because it was in a Catholic church building.  I went back and offered her $50 for it, she said it was too much money and made a counter offer of $35 so it went home with me.

We lived in an apartment at the time because I was working at Northwest Missouri State University coaching Linebackers; the complex manager offered a vacant apartment under ours for temporary storage.  I stripped, refinished and glued the piece back together and what you see now is the finished piece.  Inside of one of the doors is a label reading that it was made in the  Springfield Furniture Company in Springfield Missouri, I can't read who it was shipped to.  The coolest thing is that the Springfield Furniture Company started building furniture in 1875 and continued until 1949; the building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 "This firm manufactures chamber suits and bedsteads, all their articles being made of Arkansas hard oak wood, which is one best adapted for beautiful finish and lasting qualities. The motive power is furnished by a Corliss engine of eighty-five horse-power, and constant employment is given to about ninety workmen. Their goods are sold by traveling salesmen, and the territory covered embraces Texas, Arkansas, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. There are -no better or more perfectly fitted up furniture factories in the country than this, for all the machinery used is of the latest and most modern makes, with all the improvements known to furniture workers. Each machine is connected with the furnace, all shavings being conveyed thereto by means of air-pipes, thus economizing in fuel and doing away with dust and lessening the chance of fire." (Pictorial and Genealogical Record of Greene County, Missouri)

So just how cool is this?  Now I feel like one of those "Pickers"and am so glad that I didn't modify the Armoire into a TV cabinet, but did add some removable shelves and  some handles on the drawers.  You just have to love furniture with a past!

Thanks for reading; and remember to always measure twice and cut once.!