cabinet~milk shake

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>"Coffee cabinet" = "coffee milk-shake" seems to be very frequently
>mentioned ...

To clarify: I will use "milkshake" here in what I believe is a standard
sense, = "milk + ice-cream + flavoring, shaken/blended".

Apparently in RI, a common term for this item is "cabinet". [Any expert or
Rhode Islander please correct me.]

Presumably, then, a "chocolate cabinet" in RI would be a conventional
popular thing, elsewhere called "chocolate milkshake". Similarly
"strawberry cabinet", etc. [Again please correct if necessary.]

Why then does Google Web-search show many instances of "coffee cabinet" in
the current sense, but not a single example of "chocolate cabinet",
"strawberry cabinet", or "vanilla cabinet"? [Furniture and other unrelated
senses not included.]

Now here's an item referring to the cabinet ca. 1915; however, it is not
explicitly stated that the term "cabinet" was used back then (conceivably
the recollection could be 'translated' into modern language ... it is in a
RI Web page):

http://www.projo.com/specials/100years/cent12.htm

<<A nickel was a lot of money 85 years ago. ... When Eichin was a teenager,
Pawtucket was the place to go. ... Her eyes light up when she recalls the
soda fountain at a drugstore. For a dime she could buy a coffee cabinet. ....>>

Why is the flavor specified here? Wouldn't -- e.g. -- a chocolate one have
cost the same?

-- Doug Wilson