Mini Bookshelf of Dennison Office Supplies
In lieu of Mundane Monday, this Monday I’m presenting these fine vintage office supplies.
Call me silly, but I think this is pretty cool. It’s a mini-office supply bookshelf. It contains gummed labels, transparent mending tape, thumb tacks, gummed reinforcements (for 3-hole punched sheets), pins, dry gum eraser, paper clips, photo wafers, key tags and postage stamps. Or, rather it once contained those things. Most of the boxes are empty.
But, the neat thing is that it looks like a bookshelf and all the office supply boxes look like books. Pretty nifty! They were also available in a version for the kitchen (which contained many of the same items). You can see an example of the kitchen version here. The boxes are the slide-out type (like old matchboxes), so nothing (should) fall out of the boxes when standing upright as they do.
It was made by Dennison (now known as Avery Dennison, after their merger in the early 1990’s).
I’m not sure how old this is. There is nothing on it to indicate age. I’m guessing between the 1940’s and 1960’s. If anyone knows a more accurate date, please speak up! Here’s another version, with an estimated date of 1950’s - 1970’s.
The typewriter and phone are paperweights. Not very heavy paperweights, mind you, but I guess giving them a function makes them easier to sell than just calling them knick-knacks. 
Oh, and the typewriter will hold two or three business cards; the telephone will hold none. But, I just like that they look old and take up less space than an actual old telephone or typewriter.
Since when are you allowed to do vintage?
Since here and here.
HA HA I got you now…
Antique and vintage are two different things, according to the
Nimrods that are in the know!
You aren’t allowed vintage unless you fight me for it.
I must say I can make weapons out of anything- ask my kids. It’s my one talent.
I know you are scared now- Antique Man!
Well, if the mini bookshelf is 1940’s or 1950’s, it can be considered an antique, based on it being 50-100 years old.
Besides, by your blog’s own description, you specialize in vintage junk. My mini office supply bookshelf is not junk. Ergo, I claim the non-junk vintage stuff, so even if it’s 1960’s to 1970’s, it’s still mine.
My grandmother had an old black phone like that. I think that the phone was from the 30’s or 40’s. Sorry, I don’t know about the bookcase.
Those old phones, the real ones, sometimes sell for some goodly amounts. Not thousands of dollars, that I’ve seen anywhere, but over $100 frequently and more than that too. Depends on the type of phone I guess. I don’t know too much about old phones, except that the ones I liked usually went for more than I was willing or able to pay for them!
Perhaps the paperweights were trinkets given to prospective clients by salesmen working for an office supply distributor. Just a thought.
Could be, but I think they’re more modern creations. There’s no date on them, but the seller wasn’t selling them as actual antiques or vintage items; only that they looked old.
I’m reasonably sure they’re not salesman’s samples. I do have a salesman sample frying pan though. That’s pretty cool. I guess if you’re on a diet, you could cook a small meal for yourself with it too.
That’s pretty cool Dan and unique. Our supplies are all over the place, lol.