Okay- Before everyone says it, I know that this is not a relationship advice board. I'm referring to figuring the age of a piece of furniture. I'm refinishing a dresser for the LOML. According to her, it was purchased by her great-grandmother so she thinks it's about a hundred years old. I don't think so though.. It is shaker style, and the general framing is made of poplar. However, the drawer fronts, dresser top and sides appear to made of mahogany veneered particle board. So my question is, when did they start using particle board? I already inspected the piece completely and was not able to find any maker marks or dates on it. After I'm done stripping and sanding it, I'll post pictures of it. And no, there was no way I could get away from a complete strip down on it, there were some chemicals spilled on it at some point which ate all the way through the finish, plus a couple of burn marks, fingernail polish, etc., etc.
Oh, the drawer joints are box joints, and the slide is a piece of apparently dadoed poplar with a similiar piece fixed to the bottom of the drawer. Any thoughts???