Thoughts and possible identification?

I found these on an old homestead in western Nebraska that was established in the 1870s and relatively curious as to what they are, I think they may have belonged to an old ice house in the early 1900s-1910s.

 

Welcome, Starrk! They do resemble the old doors on "ice boxes." What county in Nebraska?

 

Thanks and Perkins county/Keith county right on their county line

 

The larger double doors are approximately 6 ft tall and the smaller door is 3'6" tall so relatively large for a in home ice box

 

Just found several circa 1900 directory listings in St. Joseph, Missouri for H. Erhlich and Sons, makers of "store fixtures." So these might have come from a store that either distributed ice or had a need for "cold storage" for perishable items.

 

Was told by an older man in the town of Ogallala they most likely were from the towns ice house from where they took ice from the river during the winter and stored it all year round for general use

 

I don't see any reason to doubt that. Just pointing out other possibilities is all.

 

Planning to resurrect them a little bit honestly just curiosity got the best of me lol, taking off all the old paint and making sure the wood underneath is still solid, any thoughts what kind of wood it may be? Cedar makes the most sense but a lot of the older ice boxes were oak and maple.

 

Unfortunately I don't know anything about what wood might have been used. But I bet there are other members who do, so hang in there.

 

Found several mentionings of H. Ehrlich and Sons as a maker of display cabinets, drawers, refrigerator stuff and such. They are listed in 1922 Ice & Refrigeration issues as a manufacturer of cold storage doors, door fasteners, etc... They are listed on page 31 of the July 1922 issue and on page 37 of the December 1922 issue.

https://books.google.com/books?id=zdBLAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA37&lpg=RA2-PA37&dq=h.+Ehrlich+&+Son&source=bl&ots=uFbcbL2Gku&sig=hzOCKKSHBc1Fbek9uf-WrNCETfQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHjqzIwMbNAhVaVWMKHWDFCekQ6AEIHTAB#v=onepage&q=h. Ehrlich & Son&f=false

There is also a book published by the company in 1927 titled:
H. Ehrlich and Sons Manufacturing Co., St. Joseph, MO: Designers and Manufacturer of Show Cases and Store Fixtures
https://books.google.com/books/about/H_Ehrlich_Sons_Manufacturing_Co_St_Josep.html?id=OSbkGwAACAAJ

--- Susan

Edit: ooops, just noticed that Baker had already dated and IDed the company from listings in directories of 1900.

 

Yep these doors unfortunately predate all of Ehrlich's actual written documentation. Already looked and they are much larger then anything they produced from 1918-1923

 

All we planned on doing is removing the paint and just sealing the original wood, which turns out to be utterly brilliant looking for something that may possibly be 100+ years old.

 

I would think such doors would/should be oak but that grain looks like pine. Not sure though.