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