Oak Shaving Stand Fit For a Governor

Today’ s guest blogger is Michael Jones, a collector, Harley rider, and frequent contributor to Show & Tell.

I love old things, which is why I’ ve been going to garage sales, flea markets, and auctions for 20 years or so. One day a friend and I were driving through Brownsburg, Indiana, and saw a guy putting out a “For Sale” sign in front of a big, beautiful house. I fell in love with it, and a little over a month later it was mine. I immediately began restoring it to its original 1920s style.

One of my favorite additions to the home’ s furnishings is an outstanding six-foot oak shaving stand with beveled mirror and two doors that originally came from the Brook, Indiana, estate of former Governor Warren Terry McCray.

The son of a banker, McCray was born in Kentland, Indiana, in 1865. After working as a clerk at his father’ s bank in his teens, he took over as its president when his father died in 1913. McCray became the governor of Indiana in 1921, and served until a mail-fraud conviction forced him to resign in 1924. He spent three years in federal prison, but was eventually pardoned by President Herbert Hoover.

Although Governor McCray himself may not have such a proud history, it doesn’ t change the fact that his old shaving stand looks great in my upstairs bathroom!