April 9, 1947, the workers pouring concrete for the grain elevators in the Texas Panhandle town of White Deer watched as a large tornado formed out of the black clouds just north of town. The tornado took off to the northeast, generally following the Santa Fe Railroad tracks. Eventually going on to destroy the Texas towns of Glazier and Higgins, and wiping out Woodward, Oklahoma, the storm stayed on the ground for a total of 256 miles.

            The White Deer elevators still stand between the highway and the railroad tracks, dominating the skyline of the small town. Rising part way up the ends of two of the elevator runs are tapered cyclone dust separators. Made of sheet metal with evenly spaced, horizontal “ribs,” these separators are the design inspiration for the Cyclone cabinet.

            Constructed of iron-stained sweet gum wood, the cabinet has a door panel that has been cut out of a section from a Ward’s 1500 bushel granary. A probable victim of the ’47 storm when it hit Higgins, the twisted and beat-up granary panels had been straightened out and used as siding on a milking shed. The door pull is a recycled barn door hasp.