#HTE

Another Old-School Wooton Design for Efficient Office Furniture: The Rotary Desk

Earlier we showed you the Wooton Cabinet Office Secretary, billed as “The King of Desks,” a massive piece of furniture from the 1870s. By the 1880s the Wooton Desk Co. also started manufacturing a desk closer in proportions to a modern-day desk, albeit with similar functionality to its bigger brother. Here it is: The Wooton Rotary Desk.

It appears that, like its larger sibling, it came in different trim levels. Here’s what we reckon is the base model, with a red leather top:

Then we move up to a rolltop model, and we can see that the buyer apparently had their choice of color for the blotter:

For even more storage up top, without stepping into the realm of the gargantuan Cabinet Office Secretary, we have a slightly fancier rolltop (note the shape of the sides).

It seems the buyer could choose whether they wanted drawers or compartments.

And I’m guessing this one was the top-of-the-line as it comes with a kind of mantle.

I also spotted this one online, and I thought “There’s something odd-looking about this one…”

…then I read that these are actually shots of the scale model that the traveling salesman carried around with him, as the real deal was obviously too heavy to throw on the back of your horse. (Scale model or no, it sold for a whopping $7,995! I really hope the buyer read the description carefully.)

Here’s an ad from the time, and the description provides some insight as to the appeal of the piece.

Remember that this was the 1880s, a couple of decades before filing cabinets were invented, so Wooton’s designs were the best you could do for a see-everything-at-once paperwork system.

See Also: