A glass compartment, a glass drawer, a spice rack, a spice shelf... you can hear all of these being used. Old glass lockers have become one of our most requested products from vintage furniture, and for good reason! Firstly, they are still practical today and secondly, intact box sets are becoming rare. Even in a modern kitchen, they are a great detail, for example integrated into the breakfast cabinet, as we have done in our own home.
Perhaps the most famous in Finland are the Swedish Reda lockers. Based on auction sales notices, they were produced from the 1920s to the 1960s. Reda's boxes include small and large boxes as well as small and large bottles. Bottles and boxes can be recognized by the rectangular "front panel" and the thin glass handle, as well as the "Reda" text on the bottom or handle.
Then more rare are the Boet-brand box sets from the 1950s. We only recently came across these bottles with metal mouths for the first time in a second hand store in Helsinki. In "boets", the front panels of the glass boxes are tall and narrow. The bottles are square and the bottle mouths are metal. Ikea has also sold new productions of this model, which you can clearly recognize by the frame made of new board.
In Central Europe, we have come across glass boxes almost similar to Reda. In these, the thickness and shape of the handles vary slightly depending on the model. However, the difference is so small that at this point imperfection makes perfect.
We found another Central European model in the Czech Republic. The boxes are tall but narrow in width. We have not come across this beautifully designed box revenge in Finland before. You can see such drawers in the picture, the bottom two.
There have also been drawers similar to Reda, whose glass front panel has a wavy shape. In addition, later in the 60s and 70s, Reda has produced drawer units made of plastic. Plastic spare parts are also available for these at Vintagetall.
Often the boxes are insufficient and you have to look for a replacement at flea markets, sometimes for a long time. When looking for a supplement, please remember that even though boxes from different manufacturers may look similar, their dimensions may vary by millimeters. That's why you should be careful that the box fits in its own frame.
Due to our new project, it's been a while since the last product drop, but don't worry, because soon our online store will be full again. Oh, and that project, it is also related to Vintagetall. More on that later!