Vintage Desk Help

[Widebrim]

Those schoolteacher desks were standard issue, unchanged in style or construction, in most American schools from the thirties to the seventies -- the idea was that once they were purchased they'd last the life of the school building. You'll find similar styles in the office-furniture section of any '30s-'50s Sears catalogue.

They can still be found in older Los Angeles schools. The one I use is almost exactly the same as the desk in the photo.

 

[Shangas]

Can someone answer this for me? What are those pullout slides for??

I've seen them on so many vintage desks but I could never figure it out. Some people seem to use them to put typewriters on. Is that what they're designed for? Or was that just an evolutionary use? What were they originally used for?

 

[MikeBravo]

Can someone answer this for me? What are those pullout slides for??

I've seen them on so many vintage desks but I could never figure it out. Some people seem to use them to put typewriters on. Is that what they're designed for? Or was that just an evolutionary use? What were they originally used for?

I always understood they were for typewriters as you said

 

[Shangas]

But if they're for typewriters, why do some desks have two slides? Surely you don't need to do that much typing that you need a pair of machines on one desk?

 

[MikeBravo]

Dictaphone? I am being facetious, of course. I don't think there is a need for two

 

[LizzieMaine]

It was to give versatility in positioning of the typewriter -- you could set it up on the side you preferred to be facing.

 

[Shangas]

I think Lizzie's right.

At any rate, I'm fairly sure dictaphones came with their own stands. That said, you could probably use those slides for almost anything. Like putting a handcrank duplicating/mimeograph machine there, and so-forth...

 

[vitanola]

No, those pull-outs are just an additional surface to be used when the main work surface is occupied. The height is wrong for proper typing, anf the unsupported area of these wings tends to sag over time when subject to the weight of a heavy typewriter. Typists either had typewriter stands, "Secretaria Desks" with a lower level wing on either the right or left on which a typewriter could be placed, or desks with a spring counterbalanced typewriter shelf to which the typewriter was fastened, which would allow the typewriter to disappear into the bowels of the desk when not in use. Shangas posted two excellent photos of one of these desks. These units were made in both wood and in metal, but they generally went out of fashion with the coming of the electric typewriter, and so when metal desks of this style turn up they are generally finished in wood grain or dark green, for by the time gray and beige became popular electric typing was becoming universal in the office. This folding feature gave the typist extra desk area when she was not typing, kept the office neat, and kept the typewriter free of dust.

 

[vitanola]

I think Lizzie's right.

At any rate, I'm fairly sure dictaphones came with their own stands. That said, you could probably use those slides for almost anything. Like putting a handcrank duplicating/mimeograph machine there, and so-forth...

No they are not sturdy enough, and will sag over time with this sort of weight on them. Office machines were very expensive, more expensive than employees, actually, and so they were not toted about. Workers came to them. A typical large office of the era, for example might have ONE adding machine on a stand up in one corner, shared by eight or nine men. Remember that secretaries typed for their bosses but in most circumstances those men who did not have secretaries would send their dictation to a typing pool, or at least a typist, whose work station consisted of little more than a typing stand and a Dictaphone or Ediphone.

 

[Shangas]

I'm such an idiot! You're right, Vitanola. Those slides would never have been able to hold a typewriter (at least, not a desktop one).

I have always thought those metal typewriter stands to be singularly unattractive. I leave a photograph here for the judgement of others...

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's exactly the typewriter stand I have -- only mine is a festive battleship grey color. It isn't pretty, but it gets the job done.

 

[Shangas]

Somehow, I could never imagine typing on one of those stands. I've seen them in antiques shops and other such places. Surely the metallic base would make things very echo-y and clunky and clattery?

These days, I generally type with my Underwood sitting on my lap. For the pure fact that my legs don't amplify the sound of the keys to such an unacceptable level.

What typewriter do you have sitting on your stand, Lizzie?

 

[LizzieMaine]

My Royal Model 10 lives on the stand, under its original oilcloth cover. I wheel it over to my desk when I need to type a letter or address an envelope. It's pretty stable, and if you use a typewriter pad it's not all that clattery -- a pad is a thick piece of wool felt that goes between the typewriter and the tabletop to deaden both vibrations and noise. You can get them any number of places on line nowadays, but they used to be commonly sold in office supply stores, or sometimes even given away as advertising items with the store logo printed on them.

 

[Effingham]

The local historical museum has a wonderful thing in it called a Wooten Desk -- and I am in love with this thing, and those like it.

 

[Shangas]

Aaah. I've heard of the Wooten Desk. Those things are crazy! Whoever uses one of those is bound to be mega-organised. But that thing must weigh as much as a pool-table!

Other than that, I think they're really cool.

 

[poetman]

Okay, so I'm looking at either the classice pedestal desk, for a small size, or the lager oak desk if I want something in the 60 inch range? I like the teacher's desk style--those drawers may spoil me. I did recently find this 1938 find though. I'm just trying to talk the seller WAY down in price. It's a pedestal style, so I'm sure it's around 48 inches, but it's nice! That second oak desk grows on me though--I love to sprawl--especially if I stain in a darker color.