Collectors Corner: Vintage Office Supplies

By Michele Alice
EcommerceBytes.com
August 25, 2013



Maybe you just want to furnish your home office in a retro style like Machine Age (c. 1880 to 1945) or Mid-Century Modern (c. 1930/35 - 1965). Maybe you collect a specific item, like the mimeograph machine that has been rendered obsolete by the march of technological progress, or the iconic wood ruler that has been almost lost in the flood of cheap plastic imitations. Or maybe you just wax nostalgic holding a box of adhesive hole-reinforcements, the kind you used to have to lick and apply like postage stamps.

Whatever the reason to collect, there's no dearth of material. Economically-minded businesses and individuals alike were often reluctant to dispose of perfectly good materials and functioning equipment no matter how obsolete they may have become. Such items ended up buried in supply closets, pushed to the back of desk drawers, hidden in shoe boxes, or stacked on sagging basement shelves, and they are unearthed when a business is liquidated, a school is closed, a professional retires, an estate is dispersed, or a Boomer downsizes to a condo.

Luckily, their frugality is our gain, and mining yard, estate, and liquidation sales for old supplies can be not just fun, but profitable:

That somewhat ordinary looking wire basket that functions as a letter tray has sold online for $60+. (Its "crinkled" wire dates it to the early 20th century.)

That (Before Computers) 9-drawer library card cabinet has obviously evoked memories of a less hectic era at just over $250.

And has that 1950s portable typewriter by Royal fetched $450 just because it's pink!?! (Beware of specimens that have been painted!).

Cast-iron tape dispensers, Gucci desk sets, Swingline staplers, banker's lamps - interested in learning more about these and other functional collectibles? Check out the resources listed below, and

Happy Hunting!