Two New Mid-Century Steel Desks

Two new steel wonders to report and with them – success on my initial goal of replacing the cheapo laminated MDF desks in the lab with quality (and cool) retro tankers.

Yawman and Erbe Double Pedestal Steel Tanker with Typewriter Lift

Spotted at a moving sale by Eagle-Eyes Jenny,this desk has a cool rounded top with stainless corners.  I’ve never seen anything quite like it – though apparently the design was the subject of a patent suit.  Y&E lost the case and the patent was invalidated for lack of novelty.   Some googling shows early history on Y&E here.  A picture of the proprietors here. 

Here is before a thorough clean-up. 

 

Here is the manufacturer’s badge.

 

 

And here it is in place, and it’s a big improvement from the buffet table that I was using for a work surface in The Lab.  This photo shows the typewriter tray raised and out.  It stores in either the up or down position. 

Other than the patent information I couldn’t find anything interesting on the web about Y & E’s metal furniture lines.   Their older oak office pieces however are awesome and talked about quite a bit.  If I ever run into something like this at garage sale pricing (as opposed to antique retail) I'm snapping it up quick!

 

Art Metal Single Pedestal Tanker

With tankers in the lab for both me and Jenny, Tommy was feeling a little left out.  I was hoping to encounter a single-pedestal model that would fit in the same space as his old desk.  I set up a Craigslist RSS feed to watch for these desks.  After a few weeks I spotted this one and though it was a haul to go and get it, I went the same day.

It had been disassembled but was not a problem to get back together and cleaned up.

 

The usual shot of the manufacturer’s badge

 

Here is some early history at Google Books (at Page 154).  Art Metal tankers are among the most popular with the retro/refinished dealers.    I love the title of the out of print, house volume about the company: 

Things That Live Forever - Being the story of office equipment from the dawn of thought to the age of art metal.

If anyone wants to part with a copy – drop me a line.

So now what?  There is no more room (or need) for more tanker desks at the farm, so I may scale back the searching a bit.  If I find the right piece for the right price I might think about blasting one down to the bare metal, clear-coating it and selling it.  A friend has offered use of his sandblaster (with walnut shell media of course.)   Maybe I’ll run across the holy-grail of metal desks (PDF viewer required).

I need to keep my eyes open for (and teach the kids to look for) some nice mid-century steel roller chairs to go with these! 

The quality and durability of some of the stuff we used to actually make in this country is pretty amazing.  Working with (and lifting) these desks, one can’t help but contrast these with the disposable junk that tends to fill up offices and homes in their place today.  I spent some time and gas, and effort to clean these up but I paid less than $80 total for all three of the tankers on this blog, and enjoyed the hunt and learning about them.  Take that, Wal Mart.

Item Details:

Yawman and Erbe Double Pedestal Steel Tanker with Typewriter Lift

&

Art Metal Single Pedestal Tanker Desk

Construction Materials (Both):

Steel with melamine surfaces

Manufacturer Information:

Yawman and Erbe Manufacturing Company, Rochester, NY

&

Art Metal Construction Company, Jamestown, NY

O.D. Royer Refrigerated Display Cabinet - From the Icebox Era

On a recent visit to the great Antique Brokers shop I saw this item sitting in the back receiving area with a hasty tag thrown on for $100.  We were in the middle of buying a table and chairs and I came up to ask if that was the store price (or the price from the source).  Told it was - I said "sold!".  I love display cases - including many that they have fully restored in the shop - but they are typically quite pricey.  I've never seen one before that had ice-box closures in any condition.

This display is designed with double paned glass all the way around (except presumably for the top).   The front of the icebox compartment is a beveled mirror.  As found, the glass was broken out of both ends, the top, one of the small square panes above the icebox.  In addition, one of the large doors had a cracked but intact pane.  All told I’ll need six standard panes and an appropriately strong large pane for the top, plus as many shelves as I decide to install. 

Here is the manufacturer’s information…

An initial web search in February got me zilch.  Even a Google Street View tour of tiny Downing, WI yielded nothing.   A more recent search found this great upright variation – at the Boone County, MO Historical Society in Columbia.  Based on their dating criteria it looks like mine is also likely a turn of the century item.  Here is the likely source material for the biographic details for Oscar David “O.D.” Royer listed on the Boone County site. 

Here it is situated in the garage/shop.   It’s condition is pretty decent – dirty but decent.  Not too many deep wood dings, and not too much missing.  One small pane will need new quartersawn oak finish strips,and I’ll need to figure out some similar arrangement to hold the top pane in place once replaced.

The bottom appears to be constructed of galvanized sheet metal painted with enamel – which makes sense for an icebox display.   Both sides were fairly badly rusted with paint mostly crackled.   Here is a before shot.

Based on the age – I figured some caution in blasting away at the paint was warranted.  Here I am all geared up.

Some time with the shop-vac, compressor and drill with a coarse wire cup brush and we are getting closer to being ready.  I may do a chemical strip to get the rest out before putting down primer and new paint. 



Fixing all the double-pane glass sections means taking out all the retaining strips of wood.  They all came out with minimal problems.  Because of the way that the glass goes into the various panels – one of the intact door panes had to come out to make room for a replacement.  All of the intact glass is delightfully blue-green and aged. 

With measurements in hand, next steps include buying glass, cutting one of the cracked large panes to replace a missing smaller pane, finishing stripping, brushing and sanding as needed, sourcing the right quartersawn oak for the retaining trim, and testing some stain matching.    That and pondering how I’m getting this thing into the house when it’s done!

Seeburg EBCS1 - Part Two

Here are the last of the in-progress shots of the Seeburg EBCS1.  Everything is disassembled and cleaned and the self-contained replacement light is wired up.  The big blue speaker has been removed from the front grille.

Here are the final (for now).  Here is the interior - cleaned and rewired.  The self-contained fluorescent housing had to be cut away (at right) to accommodate the right hand latch mechanism.  I used the original switch and some of the original wiring - even though it is on the bottom of the unit.  Makes sense as this was originally used as a wall mounted unit.  Here is a nice example of the original assembly with the consolette installed.  One of the eventual two speakers is waiting for its pal.  

The finished version has 2 little HK computer speakers in it along with an old mp3 player with songs from the three artists on the Little LPs - Brenda Lee, Frank Sinatra and Buck Owens.  For now this is a nice countertop item - though I may reroute the power cord out the back and put a rocker on it. 

I sent a pdf of the combined manuals for the EBCS1 and the SC1 that were inside to the cordial Dino Anton of Jukebox Repair Service in Pinellas Park, FL.  He hosts a collection of Seeburg Manuals here.  Mine are not posted yet, likely will be soon.  


Item Details:


Seeburg Extended Bass Consolette Speaker, Model EBCS1

Construction Materials:

Laminated Particle Board
Glass
Chromed Metal
Chrome and Fabric Grille
Promotional Little LPs
Electrics

Manufacturer Information:

The Seeburg Corporation, Chicago, IL - Early 1960s

Mid-Century Metal Desks -- Weekend Recap

I love finding diamonds in the rough - particularly when I just take a chance on something rather than standing around trying to Google things on my Blackberry.  Here is this weekend's best haul from picking over estate and garage sales (the weather was actually conducive on Friday and Saturday although it is now a snowy Sunday night).

I spotted this desk under a pile of dusty computer bags and luggage.  I didn't know much about these desks - but it looked solid as can be, free from rust and all the drawers were smooth as silk.  It just looked like quality to me, and was marked $20.  I ended up getting an old steel Black and Decker tool box along with the desk (and a bonus) all for $20.  I'd love to replace all the particle board junk in the Lab with quality vintage stuff.

I didn't take any before pix as there wasn't much to do but clean everything, oil the drawers and clean and moisturize the top surface. Here is the manufacturer's badge - The General Fireproofing Co, Youngstown, OH.

I didn't realize quite how sought after these desks can be until I started researching.  Wow - here's a very similar one - somewhat less useful and beat to hell - for about 80 times what I paid.  Here is a 1964 brochure that lists a similar but slightly different model as a 1450 (as it is 50 inches wide).  Here is a site showing how retro-chic places are refinishing these desks down to bare steel with a clear coat.  They look great and get a load of that pricing!

Here are the helpers.

And here we have Jenny's computer stuff deployed.  We will definitely need to look out for the right vintage lamp for her new desk!  When cleaning out the desk, the "Bonus" we found was a 1922 "Peace" silver dollar!  Not in mint condition - but quite decent.

Item Details:  

Mid-Century Metal "Tanker" Desk

Construction Materials:

Steel!

Manufacturer Information:

The General Fireproofing Co, Youngstown Ohio

Seeburg EBCS1 - Part One

One of my favorite memories has always been of jukebox remote selector units that were still at work on the tables and counters of truck stops and diners in the early 70s.  My childhood family travels were always road trips, and getting to eat in restaurants was always a huge treat.  These gleaming boxes sat at the crossroads of adventure travel, culinary delight, childhood vending machine desires and the fun of jukebox music.   


I've thought on many occasions about buying one of the remote selector units - though I'm not particularly interested in a full size jukebox at the moment.  On a recent visit to the closest indoor "flea market" (rented space for sellers) I spotted something that looked jukebox related.  A quick peek at the back revealed the Seeburg tag and part number.  $20 and I loaded it up.  


Getting home I searched more extensively to learn that I had a Seeburg EBSC-1 Extended Bass Consolette Speaker (photo) (description - 2/3way down).  In short this unit had a backboard where an SC1, SC2 or SC3 would be mounted to make selections and the music would be piped back and play out of both the Consolette's little speakers and this unit's bigger speaker.  The front of the speaker unit is a delightful combination of chrome speaker grill and internally lit glass and chrome advertising display.  Here is a photo immediately after removing the 'backboard'.  

 Those little album sleeves are called "Little LPs".  They were shortened versions of albums.  According to here.....

33 RPM "Little LP's" were designed for the Jukebox industry and were the same size as 45 RPM. Many machines from the 1960's until the 80's took either 45 RPM's or 33 Little LP's. Each little LP usually had 3-4 songs per side.

The immediate problem was that the thing was locked up tight with cabinet locks on either side with no keys.  Nothing the drill didn't solve.  It opened to this latch point (sorry - bad focus).  

  
A quick shot into the opening...documentation is always a good find.

Interior with docs and original spare parts bag removed...innards:

Not very complicated.  The bottom is the audio handling stuff and the top is fluorescent lighting gear - holders for a T-5 bulb, ballast and starter.   I popped a bulb in there and fired it up.  I was so surprised when it actually lit up that I forgot to take the next picture.  The ballast/starter only worked that one time and immediately gave up the ghost.  I've ordered a fully enclosed fixture that should fit fine.


I was delighted to find that the Little LP sleeves also contained some of the song sheets as well as still smaller stickers of the album cover.  These would sit in the start and end panels of the Consolette to further promote an artist.  Here is a sample.

So what to do with this thing?   I'd love to rig it so that it would sit on a shelf and light up normally, but also secretly house some kind of digital music system.  Where would I put a display or interface?  Can I turn the chrome speaker area into a push-latching fold up or fold down opening?    Maybe put a retired laptop inside? Self powered pc speakers will do just fine inside.  At the least I could run a 1/8 stereo plug out the existing wiring ports for a small MP3 Player.  


Next step is to get this stripped and cleaned out a little.  There's a lot of dust and a few long dead bugs in the bottom.  To be continued....  

Budweiser Beer Light

Bought this from the guy with the eclectic collection in the upstairs space over the resplendent Antiques Brokers - as unworking for $35.  Hope was that ballast and starter were good and that all that would be needed was a fresh bulb.

A trip to Home Depot for supplies for this (and the Seeburg) and we were pretty quickly back in business!

Here is a shot before firing it up.  Note the horrendous mess down in that end of the Lab....I'm working on it.

And here is success! (Yes, I'm using my Seeburg treasure as a pedestal to shoot this.)

Overall there looks like some minor deterioration of the paint in some opaque regions.  Nothing more than appropriate for the presumed age.    There are mounting holes on the back as well as chain slots for ceiling mounting.  I think it will go up on the Rumpus Room wall.  A great score.



Item Details:


Those Who Know Buy Budweiser bar sign.


Construction Materials:

Body: Painted Sheetmetal
Sign Panel: Dimensional Acrylic (Red Budweiser area projects forward from the main surface of the acrylic about one inch with corresponding cutaways in the sheet metal lip)
Manufacturer Information:  Labeled as RAYMOND M. PRICE & ASSOCIATES, Inc. Chesterton Indiana

Union Made as well....

Electrics:  Cord enters top of sign (for ceiling hang)  Switch is pull-chain toggle.  A T12 Fluorescent works just fine.

Here is some more information on this manufacturer as well as a cool photo.

First Project Entry

I need a place to keep track of the various projects going on at The Farm.

The current backlog includes:

Budweiser Bar Light
Seeburg Remote console refurb and retrofit.
Icebox Display Counter
Mailbox Hardware and de-key
  ...and others that I can't think of at the moment.