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Right place, right time

Discussion in 'The Antiquated' started by Ryans65, Jan 18, 2020.

  1. Ryans65
    Joined: Apr 12, 2018
    Posts: 90

    Ryans65
    Member
    from Yulee FL

    Ever find something when you really aren't even looking but you have to stop and take a closer look because you truly can't believe what you are seeing before your eyes? Right place, right time kinda thing?

    I had (finally) sold my home in March of 2019 and was sorting things out to keep or throw away in the garage. I had planned on taking a load to the dump, come back and load up things to keep and head to the new house for the weekend. I backed up to the general waste dumpster thing and proceeded to unload when another guy backed in with a large landscaping trailer full of mostly old furniture, almost like they had indiscriminately cleaned out the home of a elderly relative that had passed. Most stuff looked like neo colonial junk but one item caught my eye. It was the unmistakable open grain and color of walnut veneer.

    The item was covered in it, front, back, drawers, everywhere. At first I thought it was pieces of an old dresser but as I got closer to his trailer I realized it was a desk, a very special desk. Bent plywood made up the drawers, almost arranged in columns, one on each side. Each drawer had a radius that flowed into the sides of the desk and the top corners had a radius that tied it in to the rest of the desk. I asked the guy if he was throwing it away and if so could I have it. He obliged so I finished unloading, loaded my new desk and headed off to my old house, then on to the new house.

    I got caught in a violent thunderstorm for about half an hour and worried about the desk and its incredible veneer despite it being free and almost certainly worthless, or so I thought. When I got home I rushed into the garage to grab any rag I could, carefully wiping and sopping up all the water that was on the piece then took it inside to dry.

    The next day I poked around, looking for any indication as to what this was and to my surprise there was the remnants of a Plymold Corp. label, which would later become Plycraft. A quick internet search revealed it was a very early example of bent plywood/ veneer furniture construction from the US circa 1945 and was designed by Paul Goldman. This early postwar bent plywood furniture is rare and this particular piece was quite rare and subsequently quite valuable. It literally represents the transition between Art Deco into the Atomic/ Mid Century era of furniture design. I made a few repairs to the drawer faces and gave the veneer a quick rub with a foam sanding block and followed that up with a treatment using Danish Oil and it really let its, color, curves and design pop. Despite its value I will not sell this desk as I not only love the design but I could never replace the story and the satisfaction that one piece of american design and manufacturing was saved from the destruction and desolation of the landfill. Right place, right time. d1.jpg d2.jpg d3.jpg
     
    treb11, rustednutz, D type and 32 others like this.
  2. sawbuck
    Joined: Oct 14, 2006
    Posts: 1,909

    sawbuck
    Member
    from 06492 ct

  3. pumpman
    Joined: Dec 6, 2010
    Posts: 2,674

    pumpman
    Member

    Good for you saving that desk. Just think how many great pieces are thrown out.
     
  4. alanp561
    Joined: Oct 1, 2017
    Posts: 4,612

    alanp561
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Despite its value I will not sell this desk as I not only love the design but I could never replace the story and the satisfaction that one piece of american design and manufacturing was saved from the destruction and desolation of the landfill. Right place, right time. View attachment 4547363 View attachment 4547364 View attachment 4547365 [/QUOTE] How very well done. I've given up my wood working shop but I still can appreciate a good piece of furniture. You were incredibly fortunate.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.

  5. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,711

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    That turned out beautiful. I love older furniture like that, much better built than today's slap together pasteboard and veneer junk.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  6. That is terrific! 10 minutes either way and it would have been gone forever.
    Good that you found out how much it's worth.
    Even better - You don't care!
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  7. vintage6t
    Joined: Jul 30, 2007
    Posts: 373

    vintage6t
    Member
    from CT

    Very cool find and it looks like it turned out great.

    From a quick search it looks to be immediate post-war and yes worth some money. It makes me wonder if that company or at least the construction technique grew out of similar plywood construction of things like PT boats during the war.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2020
  8. Ryans65
    Joined: Apr 12, 2018
    Posts: 90

    Ryans65
    Member
    from Yulee FL

    Even if one vehicle out of every thousand headed to the landfill has something like this on board just imagine how much history gets erased everyday, so sad but I guess we can't save it all.

    How very well done. I've given up my wood working shop but I still can appreciate a good piece of furniture. You were incredibly fortunate.[/QUOTE]

    Thank you, I agree the antique furniture gods were making sure this one wasn't getting thrown out!

    It's a tough little desk, had a bunch of crayon and stray marks on it so maybe it lived its life as a child's desk then was on top of a pile of other junk on this guys trailer then on my trailer in the pouring rain but it held strong!!
     
  9. Ryans65
    Joined: Apr 12, 2018
    Posts: 90

    Ryans65
    Member
    from Yulee FL

    I forgot to mention Plymold was tasked with making airplanes for Fairchild during the war, they patented a process called "duramold" which was a bent plywood impregnated with a phenolic resin. It was strong, lightweight and cheap. It's cool to think these guys took that same process and adapted it for furniture post-war.

     
    catdad49 and lothiandon1940 like this.
  10. pigIRON63
    Joined: Nov 25, 2019
    Posts: 825

    pigIRON63
    Member

    20200121_163149.jpg When I was younger(12), i was at my uncle's house playing with my cousins and we "found" some toys that were his as a child. He was kinda grumpy toward us kids, and "nicely" asked us to leave his toys alone. One of those toys was a Buddy L tow truck with what I thought was a melted wheel. When I asked him about it, he told me it was actually a "flat tire" that was changeable with a regular one. He had lost the "good tire" as a child and since then the truck had a flat. Fast forward two years, I was at Charlotte Spring Auto Fair. I was browsing a booth full of toys and parts looking for old model cars, I opened a box and there it sat looking back at me, the "good tire" for the Buddy L truck. I bought it for 2 or 3 bucks. A day or so later when I saw him, I gave it to him, he stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't believe that I found one, let alone bought it for him. From that day forward he was never grumpy or short tempered with me. Although I can not say that about my siblings and cousins.
    That is what being at the right place at the right time can do.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2020
  11. Ryans65
    Joined: Apr 12, 2018
    Posts: 90

    Ryans65
    Member
    from Yulee FL

    That is too cool!!! What are the chances??
     
  12. Spooky
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 2,239

    Spooky
    Member

     
  13. 31Apickup
    Joined: Nov 8, 2005
    Posts: 3,367

    31Apickup
    Member

    Nice Desk, Have a similar style sewing table, we picked in up at the local St Vincent DePaul. We stripped it down and refinished it and it had really nice walnut veneer. Installed a 1950's Singer sewing machine for my GF. The funny thing is, it turns out my mom has the same exact sewing table, I never realized it although hers could use refinihsing. before sewing.JPG finished sewing table.JPG Paul without a sewing machine.
     
    LBCD likes this.
  14. Ryans65
    Joined: Apr 12, 2018
    Posts: 90

    Ryans65
    Member
    from Yulee FL

    Nice peice, love the grain on that.
     
  15. pigIRON63
    Joined: Nov 25, 2019
    Posts: 825

    pigIRON63
    Member

    So I had another "RIGHT PLACE , RIGHT TIME" moment today. I bought an OT 67 ss350 a few months ago, needing restored. Most everything was there.....minus the hood. I have been searching for a reasonably priced hood since I purchased the car. I ran across a few different ones but nothing seemed to work out ( too far away, sold before I could get to it, or what ever else...lol). So i search fb marketplace today and lo a d behold a 67 hood, free at the curb, but it's a 35 min drive . I message the owner and go to retrieve the hood. That message back and all is good. The owner's name seems familiar, so I rack my brain on the drive there. I get there and thank them for the hood and asked if they had any other parts to sell, she politely tells me that she sold the car and everything else a while ago. Me being nosey, I asked who she sold the car to. She told me and turns out he is the guy that I bought my car from. Turns out her name was familiar because I saw it on my old title. Her car is my car and the ORIGINAL hood for my car is the one that I picked up at the curb.....right place, right time. God works in mysterious ways!
     
    Fordors, Old wolf, 37hotrod and 2 others like this.
  16. scotts52
    Joined: Apr 7, 2008
    Posts: 2,725

    scotts52
    Member

    Amen!
     
    Old wolf likes this.
  17. noboD
    Joined: Jan 29, 2004
    Posts: 8,458

    noboD
    Member

    And that hood is date coded to the car! Good score.
     
    Old wolf likes this.
  18. There is a Theory that when you undertake any positive action it creates a ripple effect that motivates other actions. Possibly you didnt find the hood any more than it actually found you? Cool ending any how. Once we had a item we wanted and needed. The price was a lot more than we could afford. And just like that We where able to sell enough stuff from the hoard to be able to make that purchase with only a few dollars to spare.
     
    pigIRON63 likes this.

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