Writing desks - then and now! By MaryLu Tyndall

A person's desk always tells  a great deal about them. Which is why I hesitate to show you mine!  But I want to give you a comparison between a typical writer's desk today and one from colonial times.  First, here is my desk. Mind you, I didn't clean it up for this picture.. this is it's normal condition when I'm writing under deadline (actually it's usually worse!)

I won't list all the items you see.. but suffice it to say, I've got my keyboard,monitor, a couple of pens, tons of papers containing notes on characters, plots..etc. Tape, my mace gun, an old compass, a tall ship, cannon, candle, pictures of family, an empty mug that used to hold my green smoothing, lip gloss.. etc..  Does this tell you a bit about me?  If it does, I don't want to know what that is!! LOL

Now, here is a typical desk from colonial days. (Picture taken from the Early American Life Magazine)

What a difference! How times have changed. Some of the items of note are the quill pens lying atop the pewter ink stand. To the left, a wooden sander and seal, a pewter mug (hey like mine! sorta), various papers and books, spectacles and case, candlestick, brass snuffers a snuff box, etc..

Other items that you might find, depending on the owner and purpose of the desk, would be account ledgers, a ring of keys, money scales, and perhaps a small metal safe if the person owned a business. If the person was a student, you would see writing exercises and textbooks in Greek or Latin, history or Mathematics.

Of if the owner of the desk was a lady, you might find a set of watercolors or a lovely tea cup!

Either way, you could tell, then as now, much about the owner of the desk just by observing the things upon it. If a desk was large and ornate, most likely it was owned by someone of means, or someone in a prominent position.  Desks were often handcrafted to suit the owner's needs and position and were of such value that they were passed down through generations regardless of the changing furniture styles.

One of the items found on most desks was the quill pen. The quill pen was the main writing instrument from the 5th to the 19th century when Joseph Gillott patented steel pen nibs in 1831.  Feathers often had to be clipped off the quill pen to make it easier to write with and the tip was often scraped with a knife to facilitate the flow of ink.   Ink was stored in containers made of pewter, soapstone, ceramic or glass. Most were round and only held enough ink to wet the tip of the quill. An inkstand as shown in the picture above held the ink bottles and quills as well as a sand pot, so everything would be handy for the writer. Before 1820, sand was poured on the document to absorb the ink before the paper could suck it in and blur the writing.  These sand pots became obsolete in the early 19th century when new types of writing papers were developed which didn't absorb the ink.

Anyway, thanks for joining me on this journey into desks, then and now!!