Oak Table

 I love our dining room table. When we lived in Russell, a long time ago, our landlord had one similar to this. It had been cut down with the lovely center base sawed away! Then it was "limed" to lighten the wood to blonde and used as a coffee table.
What a great idea and I wanted one.

We moved to Hutchinson and had a good friend who went to auctions. He offered to be on the look-out for one. He found this one for eleven dollars and we did not even pay him a finder's fee! I am so glad we did NOT cut it down or change the color.
I have no idea how old the table is. We have had it since about 1958.  They did manufacture similar tables at an Amish furniture factory here but it has closed. Now there is a store that can order beautiful early American furniture and has tables of all sizes; some will seat 20 - 24 persons with additional leaves. Thankfully when we are all together there are only ten of us. Six of us can sit around this forty-two incher with the leaf. But the grandgirls can sit at a small table on the adjoining porch. Hey, it's better than having to eat after the adults which is what my mother told me they had to do. She said she would try to stand on tiptoe to see if her favorite piece of the chicken was going to be left on the platter. 

It was a different world.