The most popular desks used during the 19th century were antique roll top desks,which had a high demand during that time, due to the variety of functions it supported like drawers, letters and ledgers, cubbyholes etc.. The antique roll top desk was inspired from
Cylinder desk and Carleton House desk.They were mass produced because of the high demand and due to the fact that it was easy to manufacture.The credit goes to Buffalo, New York for manufacturing world’s first antique roll top desks.Carleton house desk was the first successful model of the antique roll top desk , but the only difference was that it lacked a roll top.In the 19th century there were several types of antique roll tops in the market,
Types of Antique Roll Top Desks
The Pedestal antic rolls top Desk
The Carleton House Desk
The Cylinder antique rolls top Desk
It was during the period when computers were introduced into the market, the demand for antique toll top desk declined drastically,due to the fact that computers were easy to fit on steel desks than roll top desks.Even though,effort was taken to convert roll top desks to computer desks, but it didn’t see a major success and wasn’t able to compete with steel desks.
Also,the roll top desk began to be less used when the metal desks were first introduced to the more modern offices. The metal desks were more efficient for the types of documents that were being produced with the invention of the typewriter. These metal desks had less small nooks and had larger compartments for the documents that needed filing and the roll top took a back seat to them.
While antique roll top desks provided plenty in terms of elegant style and storage, the hardware that was installed on these pieces was not always designed to last. Handles might break and drawers might stick, detracting from the beauty and the functionality of the desk.
With many upgraded features to accommodate the modern technology of today and the classic beauty of the antique desks of old, roll top desks can be a lovely, functional addition to the traditional home office..
