That Old Roll-Top Desk

Well, partner Joe and I sold our cute little double-wide in Florida and bought a grown-up house made of concrete block. We had endured a couple hurricanes owning that sweet little, light-filled metal box and spent tons of money to almost bring it back to its flip state (we bought it from flippers with great style.) We bought the new house nearby because we loved the friendships we made in that little park. Our new place is a 1973 ranch in a deed-restricted development. No parking three cars on the lawn! It's a beautiful house with lots of room and a gorgeous garden and caged lanai and pool. We appreciate it very much. The vintage ranch had been owned by Canadians who also had great taste. They'd Airbnb'd it when they weren't using it, so it had a chic feel. We bought it furnished. In Florida, lots of houses come furnished; it's a state of transients. When people want to get out, they just want to let go without all the baggage of a house full of furniture. I'd guess a huge amount of real estate transactions, though, are when the warm weather retirees pass on to the next great golden beaches in the heavens. The kids don't want to deal with all that stuff, so they just sell it furnished. I was thrilled with most of the furnishings. My goodness, there was even a set of Le Creuset cookware in the kitchen! Some funky mid-century style furniture in the family room and respectable sofas, lamps and tables throughout. A couple vintage pieces were unexpected, though. An old gate-leg, drop-leaf table was folded neatly against a wall with a funky basket full of tourist brochures; on the opposite wall was an old roll-top desk. I think I fell out of love with roll-top desks shortly after I started selling antiques. Almost always made of oak and very often massive, they are a bear to move due to their weight and size. Prior to being in the business, I thought all the hidden shelves, drawers and nooks were cool. After having one take up a huge space in another dealer's booth and sitting there for months, she threatened to chop it up for kindling. Thankfully, it did finally sell, albeit at a greatly reduced price. The poor thing — it was big and brown, two elements for antiques collectors that had lost their luster. Roll-top desks evolved from the 18th century "cylinder desks" that were expensive and primarily used by royalty. The single-piece wood cylinder rolled down to cover the writing surface and multiple compartments that might hold secret files and correspondence. The design was then co-opted by the offices that began flourishing during the industrial revolution. The problem with the cylinder desk was that the wood cylinder was prone to warping and jamming. The first patent granted for a tambour (flexible roll-top) desk was to US citizen Abner Cutler around 1882. A tambour rolling door was made of wood slats adhered to a flexible backing that glided through the curvaceous slots in the desk's high sides. Hugely popular in the Victorian era for both its form and function, the roll-top desk could store a huge amount of correspondence and business accoutrements yet at the same time offer the owner privacy and security. All roll-top desks were lockable. The desks began to fade in popularity in the 20th Century. In the professional office world, they were thought to hold too much clutter and were big dust catchers. The sign of the times was speed and efficiency and these big old dinosaurs embraced neither. Roll-tops are actually fairly popular in the antiques world and thankfully, due to their rugged build, there's still plenty of them on the market if you look. I've decided not to put this old boy out on the curb just yet. It's a more diminutive size than usual. I'd guess this one was made sometime after the turn of the 20th Century due to the non-standard size and the slightly thinner wood panels of its sides. As in 90% of the antiques you find, the lock mechanism has been removed. It's probably lived in many homes over its lifetime; the key was lost along the way and someone desperately wanted to know what secrets it might hold inside.