3 Rare Cabinets Surface this Week

This week was a phenomenal one, as we got to see three scare units go up for sale, and gather some more history and images.

First up is this 1950/51 ARO Wall Cabinet

Next is a more intact example of this Unknown manufacturer, Alemite style doors, Oil Display Shelf Bench. This one still has history to give us, more to come…

Lastly is an extremely rare Borroughs Cabinet set. This is only the second Borroughs we have seen in the wild.

Aluminum Alemite Cabinets?

Yes, that is right! For a short amount of time, most likely in ‘46, Alemite built their side cabinets as well as back tool board area out of aluminum.

We are unsure why or if it was supply they had on hand. But this is yet another in a long line of oddities we have seen on the different makers work stations.

1945 Lincoln Large Emblem Workstations

When first introduced in ‘45 Lincoln’s new style Merchandiser posesed a large, concave back, emblem in the top center of the unit. In 1946, after the Series C’s, it was gone and the smaller emblem we all know took its place.

You can really see the size difference in this pic

Here are a few more images of the 1945 units.

 
 

Uncovered; New Style Workbench Found

This unique workstation has a 4 piece step-down roll door, side shelves, a top light-up window, small handels, and horizontal vents on the front of the bench.

Although sections of this unit, like the pull-down door, look similar to an Alemite I do not believe it was built by them. No known benches have flat stainless trim around them or venting. The side shelves and front vents make me think this may be repurposed from a kitchen unit, or was built as a mfg. display.

If you have ideas about a maker or what this cabinet may have been used for, please reach out!

Gilbarco Lubrication Cabinets

Gilbarco made a stylistic line of wall batteries and lube cabinets in the late 40’s. To date, we have not unearthed a merchandiser built by this company.

Here is a few examples of their smaller portable lubers and drains

New in April of 1948 the below Deluxe Tri-Lube Wall Battery was promised to speed up your work with Gilbarco’s heavy duty quality.

 
 

Kent-Moore stand alone bench

The seldom seen Service Bench that Kent-Moore produced with a tear-down backsplash and no side cabinets.

Lincoln Sectional LowBoy Merchandisers

The Lincoln Sectional Low Service Bench was built for under window applications and other areas where a shorter or smaller workstation was needed. Debuted in 1948, this Model 2766 came with a hinged roll-back cover for the “Tool-Locker” at on top of the bench, a parts washer, and two side cabinets.

 
 

The unit could be configured in many different configurations. Here are a few in their factory colors.

Modular Workbenches that were built to connect

Shure, Alemite and Excelsior built cabinets that could be ordered to attach on to one another to create long lines of Merchandisers.

You can see the squared off end on this Shure Work Station. The top and side was manufactured different, on these models, in order to allow this type of stacking.

I found this below image years ago of two Shures at a Brake Museum. I am unsure what state this display is in.

Excelsior and Alemite also built cabinets with this type of expansion in mind.

Look at what is buried over there

A collection of Workbenches covered or obscured from years of sitting in the shop

John Bean Prototype, Built by Lincoln

Measuring in at 11 feet long with 26” wide doors, this earliest Visualiner is 2 1/2 feet wider than the standard merchandiser it was built from. In 1946 the Lincoln Engineering factory in St. Louis fabricated this workstation for John Bean, to be used as their first trial Visualiner cabinet.

This prototype looks to have been shipped out to a couple larger car dealerships to be tested and refined. The above test unit stayed close to its roots and was used in Minnesota then in Iowa. The other cabinet was sent to a Buick dealership in Tacoma Washington, called Mueller-Harkins, as seen in the b/w photos below.

The desk is less deep than the other Lincoln’s and there is a thin chrome trim across the top. The top sign is not original, and didn’t come out til months later in production when John Bean decided to build their own purpose-built alignment cabinets.

I am honored to be the new owner/caretaker of this nearly lost piece of history.

 

New Work Station found in Canada

Strong’s Garage is a repair shop in Bruderheim, Alberta. The two gentlemen specialize in historic vehicles and use some equipment that predates the 50’s. Also in use is this unique merchandiser.

Consisting of a wide edge, reinforced work top, narrow side cabinets w/ piano hinges, a rolled pull-down door, many shelves and flat edged outer corners, this cabinet is special.

A few of the details look similar to Sioux Tools workstations, but based off of the construction we believe this unit was most likely scratch-built by a local company for its original dealership.

The owner added on the Model A shift knob handles. The original back panel was a solid metal, horizontal ribbed section like the Sioux’s have. We really like the roller door, sign placement, and recessed kick plate under the bench.

These guys have an AMAZING YouTube channel documenting some of their work, and we highly suggest checking it out:

Strong's Garage on YouTube


So happy to see these gentlemen utilizing this vintage cabinet in their shop!

Time Capsule; Some scarce unit finds

Here are a few newly uncovered and seldom seen cabinets.

First is a late 30’s full Alemite Lube Unit with an incredible original wall covering.

Next is this 1944 early Lincoln Merchandiser with the rare double door, flat sided lower bench.

And this Alemite with Aluminum side cabinets and tool board.

Rarely Seen Graco Cabinet Variations

Here are a few Merchandisers that Graco produced that don’t show up very often these days. Starting with this complete example of their Wall Luber, found in Belgium.

This red unit is one of the Service cabinets speciality built for the Graco Service departments. Used to repair their own products.

This Oil Bar was a stand-alone model without the side cabinets.

And how about this cabinet and wall surround configuration. Only one we have seen in this layout.

ARO Workbenches and their Different Styles

In 1948 ARO introduced this box top work station, that was built off of a Lincoln bench.

They complemented their portable lubrication line, but sadly only lasted a few years.

Sometime after 1950, they changed the side cabinet style to this round, short top, and added on a taller middle section and different marquee. You can see the Lincoln lower bench still being used.

By the mid 50’s the company was no longer putting out their own cabinets, but attaching their badges on Shure workbenches, with added reels underneath.

Mystery Cabinets - Can you ID them?

Here are a few unknown cabinets we wanted to share. If you have thoughts as to what they are or a manufacturer, please reach out to us.

First up are these two below Lubrication Ad wall units. The left one has an Alemite next to it but the unit isn’t from their line. The right one has ARO gear but a very cool Zephyr display shelf.

I haven’t found any maker close to the look or trim on this unique red service cabinet. There is no id plate on this unit.

This 1944 image from a Vancouver Dealership has always interested us. The handles and cabinets look like kitchen equipment.

The below image is also from the same repair shop, and it appears that they repurposed other household cabenitry behind this gentleman.

 
 

We know this strange red, horizontal opening cabinet was built by Kent-Moore, but what is it used for?

This last image has some cool vertical work stations with illuminated departmental signage.

Uncovered; Unique John Bean Visualiner Cabinet

We believe that this cabinet was produced before the standard Visualiner long cabinets were built. It appears that this cabinet was manufactured out of a Lincoln Merchandiser, with a longer top and wider side doors.
The bench, hinges, spacing, marquee signage, back bracing, and handle shapes all mirror the Lincoln’s.

John Bean probably commissioned Lincoln to make these benches for them, rather than modify them in-house after delivery. It is interesting that at this early stage they attempted to project right on the widened doors, only to later build in an alcove for each projection surface.

 
 

The car in this below promotional image looks to be a 1946 Buick Roadmaster. This would most likely put this interesting cabinet being tested out in ‘46 before the 1947 roll out of the standard above Visualiners.

Thanks to a friend of the site; Here are some images of a surviving version of this wide door Lincoln/Visualiner. There is a different rounded and thinner top trim as well as the spacers between the desk and side door have been swapped with wider sections.

There are still new merchandiser styles out there to be found…

Alemite later model emblems

What years did the last sytle cabinets have these round Alemite badges on their doors vs the cutout style? As well as how many were there?

Those are questions that I do not have a solid answers for. But, below is what I have gathered about them over these years.

 
 

You can see that the two emblems have different oriented mounting studs.

Almost half of the trim-topped cabinets that I have seen, without badges, possess 4 mounting holes in their doors. This would allow the company to use either of the two emblems.

Below are what the other half of the cabinets mounting holes look like. Just two vertical ones for the cutout A badge.

This non-round A emblem is present on all lower workbenches for the whole run from 1948-55.

The Round A door badge is present in a few ads in ‘49 and ‘50, But all other ads show the other style even over these same years.

 
 

Out of nearly 400 images of these cabinets - 35% less cabinets had the round circle than the A alone. These quantities would roughly mean the round emblem cabinet was produced for 3 years, and the other cutout style for close to 5 years.

My current guess would be that the Round emblem was in use from 1948-50 and the other from 1951-55, with the 4 mounting holes lingering just past 1951.


As door badges can go missing, the round ones are more readily available, because they are on the lubers produced through all these years.