Putting cotton-reels to good use / myLot

Rockingham, Australia

October 16, 2025 3:45am CST

@FourWalls commented on a recent discussion on how resourceful our ancestors needed to be way back when. We visited Mangowine Homestead while we were away and saw a home-made shelving unit. It had three shelves and would have held family treasures and/or knick-knacks. I’ve cropped my photo so you can see the uprights more easily. They are made of wooden cotton reels which were common at the time. However, I don’t know where the decorative tops would have come from. I remember seeing a horse-drawn hearse in a museum and some of the uprights of that were turned rungs from the backs of kitchen chairs. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of it.

12 people like this

10 responses

Anna

@LadyDuck (492090)

• Italy

16 Oct

I had almost forgotten about those wooden cotton reels. My Mom had plenty when I was a very young girl. She sewed the dresses for my grandmothers and for me. Shame that I do not even know where they have been thrown.

4 people like this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

16 Oct

I remember them too. They are different to what you buy nowadays.

2 people like this

Anna

@LadyDuck (492090)

• Italy

16 Oct

@JudyEv They are no more the same shape and often it's plastic.

2 people like this

Fleur

@Fleura (33685)

• United Kingdom

16 Oct

@JudyEv @LadyDuck I still have quite a few wooden cotton reels in my box of threads. I'm gradually using them up but then of course I don't want to throw the wooden reels away!

2 people like this

Show more comments

BarBaraPrz

@BarBaraPrz (51284)

• St. Catharines, Ontario

16 Oct

I looked hard but couldn't come up with an answer for you.

2 people like this

show previous comments

BarBaraPrz

@BarBaraPrz (51284)

• St. Catharines, Ontario

17 Oct

@JudyEv Not the hearse, the finials (the decorative tops) on the etagere. I thought they might be some sort of tatting bobbins, but what tatter would give them up, unless they went blind?

1 person likes this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

17 Oct

Do you mean the hearse? Thanks for looking.

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 Oct

@BarBaraPrz I understand now. Do they look a bit like old-fashioned spinning tops? But no-one would buy 8 of those for decoration.

1 person likes this

snowy

@snowy22315 (202226)

• United States

16 Oct

It looks beautiful and functional.

2 people like this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

17 Oct

It's quite a nice looking piece really.

1 person likes this

Eva James

@wolfgirl569 (128859)

• Marion, Ohio

16 Oct

They made the shelf lovely

2 people like this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

16 Oct

I thought it looked really nice - especially for those times.

3 people like this

Ron Rybs

@Ronrybs (20969)

• London, England

16 Oct

Love it. If you hadn't told me, I'd have never guessed

1 person likes this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

17 Oct

I probably would have missed it if our guide hadn't pointed it out.

1 person likes this

Ron Rybs

@Ronrybs (20969)

• London, England

17 Oct

@JudyEv Interesting how we fail to see everyday objects repurposed

1 person likes this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 Oct

@Ronrybs I guess part of it is that you're not expecting to see such things. It's like running into someone you know but in a different context and you don't recognise them immediately.

1 person likes this

Show more comments

LindaOH

@LindaOHio (212505)

• United States

16 Oct

That's very clever and useful.

2 people like this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

16 Oct

It's a very clever idea I thought.

2 people like this

Heather Echola

@GardenGerty (167537)

• United States

17 Oct

This is like somethings I have seen in museums.

1 person likes this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

17 Oct

Just another example of making use of what's available.

Amber

@AmbiePam (111703)

• United States

19 Oct

That’s so cool.

1 person likes this

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (370527)

• Rockingham, Australia

20 Oct

They look good too, don't they?

1 person likes this

Four Walls

@FourWalls (82561)

• United States

16 Oct

Thanks for the shout-out! My mom had a sewing kit when I was little, so I’d get the empty reels to play with. I was like a cat: liked those cheap things better than the expensive dolls!