Vintage desk
I probably posted something about my old desk before, but I'm not sure when.
I finally figured out who manufactured it. It's missing both the top and the pencil drawer, and most of these desks had their manufacturer badges on the pencil drawer. It's a 40s-vintage tanker desk (aka, steel pedestal desk) that's in a style I was having a lot of difficulty pinning-down. Most tanker desks seem to have short legs, this one has boxes that run nearly the length of the pedestals. Most tankers have tops that overhang the pedestals, this one clearly had a top with rounded edges that sat inside the pedestals. Every once in a while, I've been just searching through Google Images for tanker desks to see if I can identify what it is, so maybe I can find drawer and top.
Anyway, I saw one very similar from an old uShip.com lot, and the customer actually helpfully identified it as a "Vintage Y & E Steel Tanker Desk". Bingo! It was the exact desk. A little more searching, and it turns out that the manufacturer's full name is "Yawman and Erbe Manufacturing Co.", so now I have a few nice examples and another variation of the name to work with. It seems pretty unlikely that I'll find the one piece I want most, the pencil drawer, but maybe I can at least find the badge and fabricate a new drawer/keyboard tray.
Maybe someday, my desk will look like this: http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/storage-case-pieces/desks/steel-executive-desk-yawman-erbe/id-f_743545/
Or maybe I'll just leave it mostly alone aside from a new machine-grey paint job. Whatever the case, the rounded corners are the primary distinguishing feature of Y&E desks, and they had a patent for securing the linoleum top around the edge of the rounded corners. I learned a bit more of the history of American manufacturing than I'd expected to in this search, and it's kind of sad that this company seems to have vanished during the 1950s. Guess the owners must've moved operations to Rapture or something. :P
I finally figured out who manufactured it. It's missing both the top and the pencil drawer, and most of these desks had their manufacturer badges on the pencil drawer. It's a 40s-vintage tanker desk (aka, steel pedestal desk) that's in a style I was having a lot of difficulty pinning-down. Most tanker desks seem to have short legs, this one has boxes that run nearly the length of the pedestals. Most tankers have tops that overhang the pedestals, this one clearly had a top with rounded edges that sat inside the pedestals. Every once in a while, I've been just searching through Google Images for tanker desks to see if I can identify what it is, so maybe I can find drawer and top.
Anyway, I saw one very similar from an old uShip.com lot, and the customer actually helpfully identified it as a "Vintage Y & E Steel Tanker Desk". Bingo! It was the exact desk. A little more searching, and it turns out that the manufacturer's full name is "Yawman and Erbe Manufacturing Co.", so now I have a few nice examples and another variation of the name to work with. It seems pretty unlikely that I'll find the one piece I want most, the pencil drawer, but maybe I can at least find the badge and fabricate a new drawer/keyboard tray.
Maybe someday, my desk will look like this: http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/storage-case-pieces/desks/steel-executive-desk-yawman-erbe/id-f_743545/
Or maybe I'll just leave it mostly alone aside from a new machine-grey paint job. Whatever the case, the rounded corners are the primary distinguishing feature of Y&E desks, and they had a patent for securing the linoleum top around the edge of the rounded corners. I learned a bit more of the history of American manufacturing than I'd expected to in this search, and it's kind of sad that this company seems to have vanished during the 1950s. Guess the owners must've moved operations to Rapture or something. :P