Shenandoah Second Wind . . .
Poppa's Step-Stool
This craftsman’s maternal grandfather, Alfred Gundersen, came up with the design of this article. An immigrant from Norway in the early 1900's, "poppa" was trained as a cabinet maker but could only find work digging the New York City subways during the Great Depression. He would take home scraps of wood and metals that would otherwise be junked from the work site, and would make articles such as this one for the home in his spare time. The step stool was made for his diminutive wife to reach cans in the upper kitchen cabinets. His grandchildren used it to get into the high beds when they came to visit overnight.
This copy is made of antique, wormy chestnut, cut and planed of beams recovered from an old log barn near Tom’s Brook, VA. The joints are hand mortised and tenoned, and it is treated with Danish antique oil. Custom pieces can be made with your choice of finishes, in pine, maple, walnut or oak. $95
