Wooton desk: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Latest revision as of 11:35, 22 November 2023

The Wooton desk is a variation of the fall front desk, native to Indianapolis, Indiana, and produced from 1874 to 1890.

History

Indianapolis, Indiana entrepreneur William S. Wooton obtained patents for his desk design in 1874. The desk was introduced at a time when the small business owner was seeing an increase in daily correspondence. With this increase in paperwork came the need for adequate storage and retrieval of files. An early advertisement for the Wooten desk described the model as follows:

Everything that ingenuity can suggest or devise to facilitate desk labor, has been introduced in our secretary...Its comprehensive character is such that ample accommodations are afforded for the requirements of the most voluminous business. Every facility is furnished for a thorough and systematic classification of books, papers, memorandums, etc. Through its aid the usual fret and worry of office work is converted into a positive pleasure. It is a miniature counting-house, with a combination of such conveniences as are found best adapted for the manipulation of office work, and these all under one lock and key.^[1]

Soon after the Wooten desk‘s introduction the reservoir-based fountain pen and typewriter became popular and produced greater quantities of office documents than its pigeon hole style storage system could accommodate. Production ceased in 1890.

Design

Wooton desks were not the costliest desks in series production, but they did utilize the most drawers, nooks, and crannies of all the designs available. Only a few examples of the cupboard desk had more divisions, but they were of a very utilitarian style and were often produced by the families or communities which used them, such as the Shakers. The armoire desk is the closest modern relative to the Wooton desk in its size and form. However, the armoire desk is even larger than the Wooton, and despite the use of rich veneers by some makers, is a much more practical piece of furniture.

The Wooton secretary desk rests on a four-legged quadruped support equipped with casters. The main body of the desk is filled with dozens of small drawers and nooks for papers and small objects.

As in a "secrétaire à abattant," or fall front desk, the main working surface or desktop is hinged and lifted completely from the horizontal to the vertical in order to lock up the desk, forcing the user to gather up and store all papers and implements beforehand. Unlike the secrétaire à abattant however, the Wooton desktop hides only a few of the small drawers and nooks. The real lockup is done by closing two massive hinged panels which are as deep as the desk and filled with drawers and nooks of all sizes.^[2]

Wooton desks in good condition are sometimes sold in auctions for the same price as a top-of-the-line luxury automobile.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Yates, JoAnne 1951-. Control through communication : the rise of system in American management. ISBN 0-8018-3757-X. OCLC 1241677979.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Bidwell Bates, Elizabeth; Fairbanks, Jonathan L. (1981). American Furniture 1620 to the present. New York: Richard Marek. p. 414 and 415.

Sources

Boyce, Charles, Dictionary of Furniture, 2nd ed. New York: Roundtable Press Book, 2001.
Gloag, John, A Complete Dictionary of Furniture, Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 1991.
Showalter, Camille, and Janice Driesbach, Wooton Patent Desks: A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place (1983) ISBN 0-253-28930-0
Walters, Betty Lawson, The King of Desks: Wooton's Patent Secretary, Smithsonian Studies in History and technology #3, Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1969.

[1] Yates, JoAnne 1951-. Control through communication : the rise of system in American management. ISBN 0-8018-3757-X. OCLC 1241677979.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[2] Bidwell Bates, Elizabeth; Fairbanks, Jonathan L. (1981). American Furniture 1620 to the present. New York: Richard Marek. p. 414 and 415.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:Wooton_rockefeller_desk.jpg|right|thumb|Wooton Rockefeller desk]]
+[[Image:Wooton rockefeller desk.jpg|thumb|Wooton Rockefeller desk]]
-The '''Wooton [[desk]]''' is a variation of the [[fall front desk]]. It is the embodiment (in the field of desk design and construction) of the phenomenon of [[conspicuous consumption]] which swept over moneyed society in the [[United States]] at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, and was described by [[Thorstein Veblen]] in his book ''[[The Theory of the Leisure Class]]''.
+The '''Wooton desk''' is a variation of the [[fall front desk]], native to Indianapolis, Indiana, and produced from 1874 to 1890.
 ==History==
-An [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], entrepreneur (who was later to become a Protestant preacher) called William S. Wooton obtained patents for his design and established a company in 1870. Production continued until about 1884. The Wooton desk is their better known secretary desk; the Wooton desk company also produced a so-called rotary desk, which is in fact a [[pedestal desk]] whose pedestals have segments which turn on themselves to expose more drawers and nooks.
+[[Indianapolis, Indiana]] entrepreneur William S. Wooton obtained patents for his desk design in 1874. The desk was introduced at a time when the small business owner was seeing an increase in daily correspondence. With this increase in paperwork came the need for adequate storage and retrieval of files. An early advertisement for the Wooten desk described the model as follows:
+''Everything that ingenuity can suggest or devise to facilitate desk labor, has been introduced in our secretary...Its comprehensive character is such that              ample accommodations are afforded for the requirements of the most voluminous business. Every facility is furnished for a thorough and systematic classification of books, papers, memorandums, etc. Through its aid the usual fret and worry of office work is converted into a positive pleasure. It is a miniature counting-house, with a combination of such conveniences as are found best adapted for the manipulation of office work, and these all under one lock and key.''<ref>{{Cite book |author=Yates, JoAnne 1951- |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1241677979 |title=Control through communication : the rise of system in American management |isbn=0-8018-3757-X |oclc=1241677979}}</ref>
-The Wooton desk was introduced at the end of the 19th century, at a time when office work was changing in a drastic fashion with an increase in paperwork that led to the introduction of filing cabinets, among other things. The [[white-collar worker]] invaded the [[office]] in huge numbers. The new reservoir based [[fountain pen]] and the [[typewriter]] were used to produce greater quantities of office documents than ever before. In this context desks which required users to fold and title each letter or document and place it in a pigeon hole, or small nook, were simply not efficient. It was faster to place an unfolded piece of paper in a folder and place the folder in a file cabinet or file drawer.
+Soon after the Wooten desk‘s introduction the reservoir-based [[fountain pen]] and [[typewriter]] became popular and produced greater quantities of office documents than its pigeon hole style storage system could accommodate. Production ceased in 1890.
-In a sense, the Wooton desk was obsolete just as it was born and its biggest selling point was probably snob appeal in owning a complex desk with so many divisions and an abundance of ornaments.
-Wooton desks in good condition are sometimes sold in auctions for the same price as a top of the line luxury automobile.
 ==Design==
-[[File:Secretary Baird's Office in Smithsonian Institution Building.jpg|thumb|A wooten desk (on the left) in the office of [[Spencer Fullerton Baird]] at the [[Smithsonian Institution Building]], 1878]]
+[[File:Secretary Baird's Office in Smithsonian Institution Building.jpg|thumb|A Wooton desk (on the left) in the office of [[Spencer Fullerton Baird]] at the [[Smithsonian Institution Building]], 1878]]
-Wooton desks were probably not the costliest desks in series production, but they were possibly the ones with the most drawers, nooks and crannies imaginable. Only a few examples of the [[cupboard desk]] had more divisions, but they were of  a very utilitarian different style, and were often produced by the very families or communities which used them, such as the [[Shakers]]. The [[armoire desk]] is the closest modern relative to the Wooton desk in its size and form. But the armoire desk is even bigger and larger than the Wooton, and despite the use of rich veneers by some makers, it is a much more practical piece of furniture.
+Wooton desks were not the costliest desks in series production, but they did utilize the most drawers, nooks, and crannies of all the designs available. Only a few examples of the cupboard desk had more divisions, but they were of  a very utilitarian style and were often produced by the families or communities which used them, such as the [[Shakers]]. The [[armoire desk]] is the closest modern relative to the Wooton desk in its size and form. However, the armoire desk is even larger than the Wooton, and despite the use of rich veneers by some makers, is a much more practical piece of furniture.
-The Wooton secretary desk usually rests on a four legged quadruped support equipped with casters. The main body of the desk is filled with a dozen or several dozens (depending on the model) of small drawers and nooks for papers and small objects.
+The Wooton secretary desk rests on a four-legged quadruped support equipped with casters. The main body of the desk is filled with dozens of small drawers and nooks for papers and small objects.
-As in a "secretaire a abattant" or in a Fall front desk the main working surface or desktop is hinged and lifted completely from the horizontal to the vertical in order to lock up the desk, forcing the user to gather up and store all papers and implements beforehand. Unlike the secretaire a abattant however, the Wooton desktop hides only a few of the small drawers and nooks. The real lockup is done by closing two massive hinged panels which are themselves as deep as the desk and are like it filled with small drawers and nooks of all sizes.
+As in a "secrétaire à abattant," or fall front desk, the main working surface or desktop is hinged and lifted completely from the horizontal to the vertical in order to lock up the desk, forcing the user to gather up and store all papers and implements beforehand. Unlike the secrétaire à abattant however, the Wooton desktop hides only a few of the small drawers and nooks. The real lockup is done by closing two massive hinged panels which are as deep as the desk and  filled with drawers and nooks of all sizes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bidwell Bates |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Fairbanks |first2=Jonathan L. |title=American Furniture 1620 to the present |date=1981 |publisher=Richard Marek |location=New York |page=414 and 415}}</ref>
+Wooton desks in good condition are sometimes sold in auctions for the same price as a top-of-the-line luxury automobile.{{cn|date=November 2023}}
 ==See also==
 *[[List of desk forms and types]]
+*[[Mechanical desk]]
 ==References==
+{{reflist}}
+==Sources==
 * Boyce, Charles, ''Dictionary of Furniture'',  2nd ed. New York: Roundtable Press Book, 2001.
 * Gloag, John, ''A Complete Dictionary of Furniture'', Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 1991.
-* Showalter, Camille, and Janice Driesbach, ''Wooton Patent Desks: A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place'' (1983) ISBN 0-253-28930-0
+* Showalter, Camille, and Janice Driesbach, ''Wooton Patent Desks: A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place'' (1983) {{ISBN|0-253-28930-0}}
 * Walters, Betty Lawson, ''The King of Desks:  Wooton's Patent Secretary'', Smithsonian Studies in History and technology #3, Washington:  Smithsonian Institution Press, 1969.