Tressie's Hutch

I have a large collection of antique books and I have been displaying them in my Great-Grandmother's hutch.  Her name was Tressie and I can remember her Victorian House in Pennsylvania, where she used this as her china cabinet.  

Back in the late 1960's when I was a little girl, Tressie still looked like a Victorian woman with her hair always worn in a bun, long black dress, button-up shoes and small wire rimmed eyeglasses before they were fashionable.  After she passed away, my mother inherited the cabinet.  Growing up, wherever we lived this was our china cabinet.  It has a nice smell inside...sort of a mix of pepper and spices.  I just stuck my head in as far as I could to get a whiff to try and describe the smell.  It has even been repainted inside, but I can still smell the secret hutch perfume.

I obtained the hutch approximately 9 years ago when my sister moved to my town and it was too large for her apartment.  I suggested that I would be willing to trade my antique bookcase for Great-Grandma's cabinet until she had a place large enough.  This worked out great for me.  I have moved it around to different rooms, displayed everything from Metlox Poppycock dishes, Watt Pottery and my book collection.....because I'm the type of person who enjoys making more work for herself for the love of display.

Well, the time has come and my sister is taking the hutch back!  Sunday we are trading back our pieces and I am sad.  I didn't really think anything about it until I started emptying my stuff and smelling that smell.  Old hutch, I'm going to miss you.

I was originally going to talk about the antique children's books in this post, but it will have to wait because I'm having separation anxiety.