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.