Have you ever made a mistake and not been aware of it? Or done something wrong and just couldn’t figure out how to make it right? Sometimes, it may take one hundred years or so for somebody to find out.
Recently, I picked up a rather interesting oak china cabinet. It seemed to be about a century old and more of a “country “piece than a fancy display cabinet. Oddities were everywhere found – inside and out. Small nails had been hammered into the inside back of the cabinet along the top edge. Something had been hung on these nails. Could it have possibly been dipped candles being suspended by their strings? Below these nails were also numerous tacks - all in a straight line along the back and side boards. A scrap of tell-tale paper, still affixed to a tack and wedged into a seam, gave away their purpose. Someone, a long time ago, felt the inside of the cabinet needed to be “gussied up”. Tack up some decorative paper and…Voila!
Yet, what nagged at me most was the fact that the cabinet doors just could not latch. The small cast iron hook just didn’t stay up in order to grab the lip of the retaining plate. Perhaps an interior spring had broken. Nowhere could I locate a replacement part for this piece. So, the next best thing would be to try to make one. So, off came the iron hook for closer inspection. A small retaining pin held the hook and base parts together and was easily removed. No springs. Nothing. The hook was end-weighted so that it simply dropped down. But, it needed to go upwards to catch the retaining plate.
Now, Mrs. Giblin did not raise a fool. It did not take me all day to figure that the hook had to be reversed in order to drop and that the retaining plate had to be on top of the shelf – not under it. Had somebody incorrectly changed the position of the hook when, perhaps, cleaning the cabinet doors? No. It had been installed that way from the day it was built - upside down. And, the original owner/builder just could not figure it out. That accounted for the eye and hook they later added to keep the door closed. 100 years to discover a mistake that must have bothered several generations.
Finding that mistake led to something else…the realization that this cabinet, with its quirks and oddities, was hand made -this was no production piece.
Sometimes it’s the flaws that make something special, one-of-a kind, something to be treasured and more valuable.
Stop by soon,
Bill
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