campion

They are shoe trees used in the old days to keep leather shoes straight.

mpspeedy

You have a Martha Washington sewing cabinet. I purchased one at a yard sale years ago and was glad to get it for $60. Mine was in a little better condition on the outside. It holds a place of honor in my sewing room. The large bins on the sides are great for storing my latest small hand project or yarn etc.
The other objects are shoe stretchers. I can remember being told to stuff my damp shoes with newspaper so that they wouldn't shrink when they dried. As a child I only had one pair at a time so taking care of them was essential. We were not fortunate enough to own real shoe stretchers.

gsbuffalo

I love the cabinet and the lady gave it to me for free. I will be cleaning the spots on carpet today as they are bad in the pic and then working on the cabinet. I will so much treasure this cabinet. I do not have a sewing room right now but do have a large corner in the livingroom and it will sit right there with me.

raptureready

mpspeedy is right, it's a Martha Washington cabinet. I bought mine on an auction. Get out your Old English Cleaner, clean it up then use some Old English Dark scratch remover. It won't entirely fix it but it will help. Then put a pretty doily or embroidered vintage linen on the top and you'll have a beautiful little sewing cabinet. Be cautious when moving it---the legs break easily.

Leather shoes will stretch when wet and shrink when dry. If you're leather shoes/boots are too tight, fill them with water, let them sit for 5 minutes, put on a thin pair of socks and wear them until they're dry. They will dry to fit your feet. If you have a pair that are getting big wet them and set them by your heat vent to shrink a bit. If they fit perfectly and get wet, put these things in them. My first DH only wore western boots. He wet down every new pair and wore them until they dried. They were broken in after that and never hurt his feet.

Deborah12687

I do believe those pink and blue things are shoe stretchers for leather shoes. When leather gets wet it shrinks a bit so they put them inside. My Dad use to use them and you put the pointed part in the the toe of the shoe and the ball in the back.

CarrieAnne

I love your cabinet!

Debbiemg

My dad has one of these. I didn't realize it was a sewing cabinet. What do you think the purpose of the deep side bins was? I see mpspeedy uses it for projects. Just wondering if they were originally designed for something specific (like shoe stretchers!)

nativetexan

shoe trees for ballet slippers?

gsbuffalo

I am so excited and hubby has been sorting thru all the goodies for me. I am going to clean the carpets and send him for old english to polish it up. I also have a beautiful lamp that has a grandma garden pattern on shade to put on it. It has really made the day. I did a search and they are shoe trees and has been very interesting in learning something new. when I picked up the cabinet it had fabric in the deep sides and also found a gift card with a golden needle in it. truely a wonderful experience for me. thanks to everyone for helping with the learning experience and sharing my joy.

sueisallaboutquilts

I have the same cabinet. I love it!!