PSA: Found a 1940s furniture catalog that shows a finish I thought was modern

I was digging through a box of old papers at a garage sale in Cincinnati last weekend... found a full color catalog from a company called 'Drexel Heritage' from 1947. They had a dining table with a finish they called 'sun-bleached oak'... it looks exactly like the 'limed oak' look that's all over the place now. I always thought that was a new trend. Makes you wonder how many 'new' ideas are just old ones coming back around. Has anyone else found an old finish in a catalog or magazine that surprised them?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_murphy2118d ago

Disagree on it being the same. That old finish used real aging methods. The stuff today is just a chemical wash to look old fast.

anthony_campbell8818d ago

You can spot the chemical wash by looking at the wear patterns. Old methods wore down edges and high spots naturally, but the new stuff often has fake wear in weird places like the middle of a flat surface. Check the color in the recesses too, it should be darker, not lighter.

beth_reed18d ago

My 1920s dresser has that lighter recess color you mentioned, but it's definitely original. I've seen the same on pieces in the Boston museum.