Shoe Hooks

Posted in Garden Antiques on 07/20/2010 06:12 am by admin

Does anyone know what I'm referring to about this particular piece of back in the day coat and hat hook setup?

It was an old time thing that was tall, usually there was a mirror in the center of the back rest area, it had a hinged seat that lifted up to have a place in there for shoes, hooks at the top of the whole thing to hang coats and hats, etc.... Does any one know what this particular piece of furniture is called?

This is also known as a "Costumer". It is Victorian and very much a middle class piece set up in the hall of the home to advertise to all visitors that this family had "arrived". They could be quite ornate, but with the advent of the Arts and Craft movement in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods their lines became straighter. Some incorparated umbrella stands into their design as well. They weren't a totally decorative piece, since gloves and scarves could be stored in the off season in the seat and the mirror was used to check one's appearance before sailing out the door. (Remember that the wearing of hats by all adults was considered a sigh of respectability and it was well into the 1950's or even the 1960's before that changed in Western culture.)