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A New Old Addition To The Shop

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  sfhipchick 
#1 ·
A New Old Addition To The Shop

I have finally graduated from using my saw bench as a shop seat to introducing and using this wooden stool.

Furniture Wood Natural material Chair Table


But it's not just any plain old stool - it has some history behind it.
In downtown Colorado Springs, on South Tejon Street, is this really picturesque old building with the name 'Hibbard & Co.' on the front facade. The Hibbard Company was a dry goods store, opened in 1892. This building was constructed in 1924, and has become a historic landmark in the downtown area.

Building Window Sky Cloud Neighbourhood


The store went out of business in 1996, and the building was renovated to become retail space on the first floor and offices above.
When this happened, the Hibbard family conducted a public sale of all of the store fixtures.
This clerk's stool was one of those pieces. It is made of solid oak and is very sturdy - and dates back to the early 20th century. A perfect fit for handsawgeek's shop and the way things are done there.
Until recently the stool served as a bedside table in my master bedroom, but was replaced with another small antique table. I was delighted to haul it downstairs to become part of the woodshop!
One little side note about the Hibbard building - when I was a kid my mom used to take me with her shopping there.
The store occupied three levels, and an old elevator serviced the building.
I was terrified of that elevator!
Why? Because it was one of those antique iron cage Otis elevators with the open grate floor.
You could see all the way to the bottom of the shaft.
I don't know if the building still uses that elevator, or if it was removed during the renovation.
I might have to take a trip to the Springs and see. I would love to ride that thing, now…..
 

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#2 ·
A New Old Addition To The Shop

I have finally graduated from using my saw bench as a shop seat to introducing and using this wooden stool.

Furniture Wood Natural material Chair Table


But it's not just any plain old stool - it has some history behind it.
In downtown Colorado Springs, on South Tejon Street, is this really picturesque old building with the name 'Hibbard & Co.' on the front facade. The Hibbard Company was a dry goods store, opened in 1892. This building was constructed in 1924, and has become a historic landmark in the downtown area.

Building Window Sky Cloud Neighbourhood


The store went out of business in 1996, and the building was renovated to become retail space on the first floor and offices above.
When this happened, the Hibbard family conducted a public sale of all of the store fixtures.
This clerk's stool was one of those pieces. It is made of solid oak and is very sturdy - and dates back to the early 20th century. A perfect fit for handsawgeek's shop and the way things are done there.
Until recently the stool served as a bedside table in my master bedroom, but was replaced with another small antique table. I was delighted to haul it downstairs to become part of the woodshop!
One little side note about the Hibbard building - when I was a kid my mom used to take me with her shopping there.
The store occupied three levels, and an old elevator serviced the building.
I was terrified of that elevator!
Why? Because it was one of those antique iron cage Otis elevators with the open grate floor.
You could see all the way to the bottom of the shaft.
I don't know if the building still uses that elevator, or if it was removed during the renovation.
I might have to take a trip to the Springs and see. I would love to ride that thing, now…..
Marvelous story!! I have to say, it's interesting to me that as I grow older, I'm finding stuff like this so much more valuable and attractive. As a kid that stool would have bored me. Today, I read your story of where it came from and think, THAT IS TOO COOL TO FOOL! :) How nice that you have this remnant from the past! :)

I loved reading about your relationship to Hibbards and that nasty Otis Elevator. I have two things to share about that.

First…if you are interested in podcasts at all, and like interesting history, you will LOVE this podcast that tells the story of Otis Elevators! I'm a total junkie for the podcast, "99% Invisible" and they did a podcast called "Six Stories"...here's the link to the page where you can read about the story and also a link to the mesmerizing podcast: http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/six-stories/

Second…your horror at that elevator reminds me of another historical memory. I was born and raised in San Francisco, and as a kid, the long-since-torn-down Playland at the Beach (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playland_(San_Francisco) was a birthday party favorite for me and my brothers. What a place! I was only 8 when Playland closed, but my parents took us there bunches of times and I remember it fondly. Except for one thing. There was this horrible, awful mechanical fat lady called Laughing Sal, which sat behind glass just outside our favorite place, the Fun House. She would spontaneously break into a cackling laugh and gyrate in back and forth…she scared the BEJEEZUS out of me, so of course my brothers would wait for my parents to be elsewhere and then drag me to her and sit on me, forcing me to get as close to her as possible. OMG…I will ALWAYS be freaked out at that thing! Take a look:

So, my little self gives your little self a hug…yikes to things that scare us when we were little kids!!
 

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