Bay Colony Antiques is proud to offer for sale this fantastic early 20th century Globe Wernicke antique Oak stacking file cabinet. The answer to all of your office’s storage needs, this thing is quite formidable yet doesn’t command much floor space. The file has 6 legal size drawers with useable dimensions of 15” wide x 23” deep x 10 3/4” tall. The filing cabinet also has two letter size drawers with useable dimensions of 12 1/4” wide x 23” deep x 10 1/2” tall. The original art mission frame is still present, alongside the original top. We’ve attached a collage image showing the various Globe Wernicke labels and patent dates. The file cabinet also has old punch marks and decals from the Bureau of the Census & a metal tag from Portland CT. We purchased this from a retired schoolteacher in CT who confirmed that it was in fact used in the school system over the last few decades. This was probably originally built for the Census Bureau in Hartford, and we really enjoy the fact that we can account for its entire lineage thus far. The latest patent date on the slides is August 1917, and it looks like the general supply inspection stamp shows April 1918. The United States entered WW1 during April of 1917, and this was likely commissioned during the necessary expansion of the US Census Bureau as we prepared to enter World War One. The US population had recently surpassed 100 million and the census bureau provided records for the military draft and vital information on the country’s industrial capabilities.
This is an elastic or stacking file cabinet comprised of 6 individual parts (4 double drawer sections, 1 base, 1 top). The cabinet has double paneled sides and the steel drawer slides operate smoothly with no issues. Because this is a Globe Wernicke cabinet, it was made to extremely high standards. After over a century of use the drawers still operate as intended and aside from a few scuffs and a couple of inconsequential wood losses, the file is in wonderful condition. The quarter-sawn oak selected for the cabinet showcases a nice bold grain & retains its original surface which has developed a nice mellow patina over the years. All of the original brass index card plates & brass file rods are still present, and the majority of the pulls are original to the cabinet. This came to us with two replacement pulls affixed to the bottom drawers which we removed and replaced with the appropriate brass handle pulls. We’ll have our restorer fill & color match the extra screw holes on the bottom drawers and also touch up the small circular depression on the bottom right drawer. If you’re on the east coast and are a bit flexible on the delivery time we can save you a considerable amount on shipping by having our in-house delivery team handle this. The cabinet measures 33” wide x 25” deep x 64” tall.
