The Walnut Wardrobe

In the fall of 1971, my wife and I moved from a large apartment on Reed Street which was part of a three-apartment division of a once lovely Dutch colonial home. Hagler Rice and his family (from Aug. 24 entry) lived next door. The Reed Street apartment was rapidly becoming a “student” neighborhood since the University of Alabama campus was just a few blocks away. It had become a very noisy neighborhood with incessant traffic flow to and from the university. Plus, partying students kept us awake especially on weekends of home football games. These were the days of Bear Bryant and the National Championship Teams.

We moved to a Cape Cod style home that was situated on the short dirt road that ran down beside Forest Lake. This was an old established neighborhood and our particular street was the original Forest Lake Drive. Our house number was #5 Forest Lake Drive. There was also a paved section of Forest Lake Drive that ran along the eastern shore of Forest Lake. The lake was man made and the neighborhood, at one time, was about three miles from downtown Tuscaloosa. Over the years the city built eastward and this little enclave by the time we moved in was totally encircled by the encroaching subdivisions. Nonetheless, there was still more than an ambience of solitude and seclusion to the neighborhood.

One evening when we were having dinner at our home with the Rices, Hagler mentioned that he and Inge were planning to move back to New Orleans within the next year. Their daughter Heide was about to launch her piano concert career and New Orleans would be a more ideal place for her to be. He said that they would have to sell some of their furniture since they would be moving to a smaller home. One of the items was an antique walnut wardrobe. Another item was their five foot nine Blüthner grand piano. He wanted to know if we would be interested in the two items. The wardrobe and its origin will be described below in Hagler’s own words. The unique feature of this floor to ceiling and very wide wardrobe was that is was built without any nails. It could be disassembled in minutes and moved relatively easily. (The grand piano will have to be another entry, perhaps, tomorrow.) Hagler sold us the wardrobe. We have used it for years now as a music cabinet. Without touching the construction inside the wardrobe, we were able to put a metal shelving unit within the wardrobe so that we could store our piano music collection. To this day it houses most of our music collection. Now, for the story of the construction and early use of The Walnut Wardrobe as transcribed from a typed copy that Hagler gave to us shortly after we acquired possession of this remarkable piece of furniture.

The Walnut Wardrobe

This Walnut Wardrobe was built by a traveling English Jointer (Cabinet Maker) at my grandfather’s saw mill on Binions Creek during 1902. Exact date unknown.

The walnut tree from which the lumber was taken grew in Grandpa’s front yard for its lifetime. A severe wind storm blew it down during the fall and winter of 1901. It lay on the ground during the summer of 1902. This was the spot where all the young people would sit and sing songs during the long summer twilight evenings. Such songs I remember were “She Was Born in Old Kentucky,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” and many others which were wee-known and loved at the time but have been forgotten by the public today, for the most part. Whenever I hear one of the songs above and many others, whose names I don’t remember presently, I get a most satisfying feeling, something of nostalgia and something of sadness for a period long gone into the past. It was a great period for us.

The English cabinet maker was a traveling man and I do not remember much about him. The walnut log was a hug one, about 4 feet in diameter. The walnut lumber was sawed and then sent to Northport where it was kiln dried. After returning to the mill on Binions Creek, the Englishman drew sketches of the wardrobe for approval; then, he started construction of the piece which required over three months [to construct]. The lumber was hand-planed and sanded smooth. The wardrobe was a copy of others the man had built in England and its lines were typically English as were some of the hardware which the cabinet maker insisted on obtaining from sources he had in England.

The wardrobe originally had a hand-rubbed “gun Stock Finish” (hot raw linseed oil rubbed on for at least 10 coats. This gave a satiny finish and was the delight of my grandfather, who was an avid gun crank.) The finish has been polished up into a shiny coating but is essentially the original finish, which is in the pores of the wood.

The bottom unit, doors and cornice are really English in feeling and design and the wood was selected by the maker from a good pile which he had available at the saw mill [which] was most suitable for the use it was to be put.

The Wardrobe was popular during this period as most houses, especially country houses, had little or no closet space, so all the fine dresses and my grandfather’s Sunday suits were stored in the wardrobe. Also, each door had its [own] key which dept it locked securely.

I remember my grandfather’s suits were in the left hand space and Grandmother used the right side, which had numerous shelves, to keep her dresses. My grandfather had two other wardrobes but they were smaller and did not have the graceful lines of the solid walnut wardrobe. It is a relic of a period of graceful and comfortable living which was typically Southern.

June 1972 Clarence Hagler Rice