Really nice student drafting table

 So I was visiting a shop just the other day and spotted this student drafting table. The seller's tag said that it was from a Connecticut high school classroom.

As a collector and restorer of workbenches I was immediately attracted to this desk. The frame is all good old american steel. The top looked to be rock maple with a dye and varnish that seems to have held up pretty well.

I am guessing that the bench is from the late forties or maybe the early fifties. The seat may or may not have been from a first "marriage" for the pair but I thought it went together well.

 As you can see here the leg could be bolted to the floor so that the drafting students were unable to use it as a weapon during a riot. It does not appear that the desk was ever permanently attached to the floor though as there is no evidence that there was a bolt to screw through it.

I could just imaging this being tucked in the corner of a nice work-space for  an artist or graphic designer. A little cleaning and it would provide a stable and functional spot to work for another 50 or 100 years.

I am sure that it will find a home before the next time I go to visit the shop. The price of $250 was very reasonable when you consider what you are going to get at Ikea or Bobs Furniture for a lot more.

 Here is a parting shot from the other side - definitely a striking object from a time when stuff was made well. I am almost tempted to go back today and get this table. I really think that it would make a great stand-up work desk for my computer or laptop.

Maybe I will......

Waking up in the middle of a New England winter

Snow and more snow. We started out with what looked like a mild winter here in Connecticut. Mild, low oil usage evenings with temperatures keeping us warm above the need to crank up the heat.

Then the other shoe dropped and we got whacked with low teens temperatures and boatloads of snow. So much that I actually said out load how much I celebrated the purchase of the snow blower. I am pretty sure that celebrating the purchase of a snow blower might be reason to consider moving south except where would I find all of the really great old things that seem only to exist in New England?

Even with the invention of eBay.com, Etsy.com and 1stdibs.com whose buyers appear to be relocating truckloads of antiques to far parts of the planet I am still surprised by the sheer quantity of "stuff" that still pops up here. I myself have been guilty of moving vast quantities of New England treasures to the far corners of the world.

Yet so much stuff still shows up that I am beginning to think that this part of the country is hoarding headquarters for the USA. I know that you see the television shows where hoarding interventions take place all over America but how else do you explain the richness of the Northeast in antiques and collectables? We must be hoarding at a rate far above the per capita suggested by these reality shows.

Every time I walk into a clean-out or an estate auction I find some of the most bizarre and interesting things it just can't be coincidence. Here are a few interesting items I have run into recently:

Marquetry Rocker

Marquetry Table

A really nice marquetry rocking chair that was obviously home made. It was in the same lot as this nice little table with similar work done on the surfaces.

It is certain that these pieces were made before televisions came to us.

Imagine how many hours that maker put into cutting, glueing and finishing the pieces.

Handkerchief Table

Then I ran into this handkerchief table from the 30's.  It was made right in Hartford, Connecticut by a company that is no longer in existence.

The contrast of the styles - mid-century and home made art furniture is a small sampling of what we find on a regular basis here in the snowy, cold Northeast.

So maybe I can deal with another winter after all.

Maker Name