Saturday, June 30, 2012

Index Card Lovers: See and Envy

I went to Goodwill today for the first time in forever. No typewriters (except the ubiquitous late '80s electric), but I did find this:

Index Card Cabinet

Now *that* is an index card cabinet. I don't exactly have enough cards to fill it yet, but really, for eight dollars, could I resist? Of course not.

Steelmaster's logo is pretty retro-cool! I'm not sure this is actually vintage, since Steelmaster still appears to be making filing cabinets, but the styling is classic.

Steelmaster!

And I particularly like these little spring-loaded slidey thingies. They allow for easy expansion.

Sliding index card divider

It stacks nicely, and will hold some of my smallish notebooks as well as index cards.

13 comments:

notagain said...

slick! nice find - awesome logo too!

MEK said...

Very nice - I especially love the logo! We've come across a couple of old card catalogs lately and so far have resisted, but it's been difficult.

teeritz said...

Yep. I'm jealous. Nice find, Miss.

Richard P said...

A great, well-made unit. I love that logo too.

mpclemens said...

I've seen these now and then and am always tempted (for the same reason "card catalog" is one of my standing Craigslist searches.) Never mind that I've accumulated a number of steel recipe-style boxes for index cards in a variety of sizes...

Nice find! I wonder if that cutout slot on the top accommodated a lock?

Elizabeth H. said...

I wondered too about that slot. Could be a lock of some kind...or maybe some sort of anchor point for stacking multiple units?

Apparently this one was used for recipes, which boggles the mind. How many of them would there have been?? And maybe I'm wrong. But as I was cleaning it up a bit, I discovered a large stack of little cards that say A1 Masters of the Grill, each with a star football player (of the mid-90s, research tells me--I'm clueless about football, and the names mean nothing to me) and a recipe on the back. They're baseball card sized rather than index card sized, and so must have slipped behind the drawers. IIf anyone wants 'em, I'd be happy to inflict them on you!

Bill M said...

Those are great card files. I buy them whenever I see them even if they need painted. I find them in thrift stores, yard sales, and garage sales -- usually for less than a dollar. My favorite is a really old black one with brass hardware.

They are great and useful for many things not only index cards.

I like the neat logo used on these and the fine hardware that adds a nice accent. Other brands use a sticky label and are not as nice.

The slot on all of mine is behind the drawer front and would not lock the unit. It is used to align the units and kind of lock them together when stacked.

If you look under the bottom center front under the drawer you will see an associated angle (unless it was bent or broken off by the previous owner).

Anonymous said...

I need to be on the lookout for one of these, but only at a thrift shop or yard sale. They look so cool!!

The company still makes them although they are now black and don't have that neat logo. Even at Amazon prices they cost over 50 bucks, which is crazy. I'll get some old cigar boxes before paying that kind of money for an aluminum box.

Hmmmm! I've got some nice pieces of Honduran mahogany with gorgeous grain. Should be possible to make one with brass fittings. Something for autumn.

Jeff The Bear

Elizabeth H. said...

Bill, once you pointed it out, I did see the tab on the underside that would fit into another unit if I had one. There's also a sort of hooked tab at the back, and a corresponding slot on top there as well. So I guess on the off chance I stumble across another...

Jeff, a Honduran mahogany card catalog with brass fittings sounds gorgeous! The sort of thing they sell in Levenger style catalogs for...well, rather more than $8. Or $50.

Connie said...

Nice find, I've gotten lucky found three that I can stack she a single file card all for under.20

Elizabeth H. said...

Very nice!

I could see these being handy for organizing a variety of small office supplies, since the drawers out fully for easy viewing. Index cards are what they do best, of course, but other items would fit as well.

Summer Daniels said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Frank Zweegers said...

The logo is very slick :)