Old Dresser - Any Guess at Origins?

[Ed Sallee]

I was lucky enough to have this given to me about 20 years ago from my Mom. I'm 47 and I can remember this being in the basement of the old house forever. The old house was in a small town in Southern Minnesota...about 10 miles from the Iowa border. Mom & Dad grew up in Northwood, IA.

Mom claims she got this from her Mom.... and it was on the old farm as long as she remembers.... the old farm was rural Northwood, IA (farm country).... which is about 15 miles from where I grew up....

So.... as near as I can tell, this came from Iowa.... maybe depression era, as my folks were born in to the depression. From there.... who knows.

Interesting piece with some very intense woodworking and measuring, I'm sure. The drawer fronts are cut from a solid piece of wood.... and wow, look at how they line up. Dovetails, keyed locks.... I can't tell what kind of wood that is either... I'm sure the handles have been replaced.... but, I haven't done a thing with it as you can tell from the paint splotches on the side.

So.... anybody have any theories or ideas where this piece came from?

I really have no idea.

[Cody Colston]

No idea about the origin but the wood is Oak and at least the drawer fronts are quarter-sawn. The dovetails actually look machine cut but I could certainly be wrong...although they sure are uniform.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Ed, my step father used to have that dressers close cousin in the haymow of one of the barns. The piece he had was actually a table. It was made in the late 1800's, in a factory by the tousands. Things like this where made as the industrial revolution hit woodworking. It is usually good quality stuff, and interesting to see. My sister in law would love to take that piece off your hands! Her house is a Victorian era museum of sorts.

I've always got a kick out of seeing the various different machine cut ways that dovetails where made, or other similar joints invented. Pretty ingenious time, and you can see a lot of the evolution of woodworking machines in these old Victorian pieces.

[David Keller NC]

Ed - The style is called "Golden Oak" (for obvious reasons), and it was probably made somewhere around the 1890's. There's a lot of it around, as it was generally factory-made. But that's before "factory made" became a bad word - most of the pieces my family has are really high-quality, nice furniture.

It's not as sought-after as the styles that came before or after it (think "Empire" and "Arts and Crafts"), but there is a small following of avid collectors. There's also a number of books about the style available if you've the interest:

[Ed Sallee]

Thanks for all the info guys... I would have guessed late 1800's to early 1900's.....

The clock, by the way is from the late 1800's. Not sure of the date, but it belonged to my father's aunt...who passed away about 25 years ago and she was 97 when she died. My Dad said that her father bought it new the day she was born.

[Dell Littlefield]

If you will post a picture of the complete clock and list the manufacturer, I probably can give you a pretty accurate date estimate.

[Ed Sallee]

If you will post a picture of the complete clock and list the manufacturer, I probably can give you a pretty accurate date estimate.

Sure thing, Dell..... It's a Seth Thomas - Funny, I never noticed any writing on that tag in the bottom. The camera brought that out....

[Jim Kountz]

I dont know about where it came from but it sure is a nice looking piece Ed. I like the serpentine drawer fronts and the oak is very cool!!

[george wilson]

When that piece was made,in the late 19th.C., It was actually an advertising benefit to state clearly that it was MACHINE MADE. Meaning,it did not have the shoddy vagaries of the usual hand made stuff of lower price ranges.

[John Keeton]

Ed, I have refurbished many pieces of this style, and the responses are all correct - 1890 - 1910. Although the drawer fronts are solid wood, they are probably veneered with the QSWO. The tops were often veneered, as well - over oak. The hidden surface of the dovetails are round, much like the ones made today with a jig.

Neat pieces of history, but in this area, they are fairly common. However, in the right circumstances, they can bring a pretty good price at an auction.

[Steve Southwood]

We have that same style piece in our bedroom. It has a small door on upper right and a mirror attached to the back. I'll try and get a couple pictures up. We are supposed to also have the orgional handles.

[David G Baker]

Ed,
I have an old Seth Thomas clock, I did a Google search and found my clock on a site, the site even had a copy of the data sheet that was originally glued on the body of the clock.

[Jim Heffner]

Those are two beautiful pieces you have there Ed...especially that clock!
I have a mantel clock very close to that one...would not part with it, used to belong to my mom when she was living.I kinda like clocks...a hobby, whether they run or not, just enjoy the beauty and craftsmanship
in older pieces like that!

[Bill Blackburn]

Ed - The style is called "Golden Oak" (for obvious reasons), and it was probably made somewhere around the 1890's. There's a lot of it around, as it was generally factory-made. But that's before "factory made" became a bad word - most of the pieces my family has are really high-quality, nice furniture.

It's not as sought-after as the styles that came before or after it (think "Empire" and "Arts and Crafts"), but there is a small following of avid collectors. There's also a number of books about the style available if you've the interest:

Great info David - I too happen to have a bunch of these pieces, or cousins, that also came from southern MN (Tracy). We know they were bought and/or bartered for between 1883 and 1902 by diaries and notes that were always kept inside the drawers. My grandfather and his brothers owned thru the early '50's, then my Mom and now me.
Made extremely well and still in use today.

Thanks for the heads up on that book!