The drying cabinet is actually a Finnish invention [1] (although apparently preceded by a US patent that never took off). It was popular in Scandinavia for a while, and you still come across homes from the 50-60s that have them, but they're no longer popular now that most people have automatic dishwashers. My family has a mountain cabin in Norway, built in the 1950s with no dishwasher, that have these, and they're very handy.