DiMola Bros gets oldschool with old school chair in Brooklyn storage cleanout
DESKS GALORE: All of these desks were piled on top of each other when I cleaned out a mini storage unit in NYC.
I’m not in school anymore, but I’d love to learn a thing or two about this school desk and chair.
Vintage school desk and chair with hole for inkwell
Remember that vintage school desk I talked about in a post about 10 days ago? Well, I loved it so much, that now I want to tell you about the chair that’s attached to it.
I found this desk and chair about two weeks ago when I was cleaning out a person’s mini storage locker in Brooklyn, New York. These desks definitely aren’t made anymore; they’re so old, there’s a hole in the top for an inkwell. The chair, which is attached to the front of the desk, is about 29 inches tall and 20 inches wide. There’s even a small shelf underneath the top of the desk for books or other school supplies.
As I mentioned in the March 2011 post, this desk has a hole in the upper right-hand corner that is perfect for holding an inkwell for an old, gold-tip pen. Most of my research has shown that this desk could from anywhere from the early 1900s to the 1950s. However, the inkwell hole most likely indicates 1930s production.
DiMola Bros Rubbish Removal
1640 Summerfield St.
Ridgewood, NY 11385
Phone: 718-326-6969
Fax: 718-326-7979
NGDimola@aol.com / http://dimolabros.com
Trash Treasures of New York City 
Nick, I remember those old desks at my Public School 20 in flushing New York.
Yes, I think the seat in front of that desk will be the seat for the next desk in front of it. Just like you imagined. Lucky find for you. Carole
I attended Daniel Boone Grammar School in Chicago from 1955-1964 (K-8 attended the same school). I had a desk exactly like the one in your picture. Us boys use to wad up a little piece of paper and use the eraser end of our pencils to play “pool”. Of course, if teacher caught you doing it you got in trouble. Our desks were bolted to the floor in rows (6 rows of 7 desks per row). Because our desks were directly connected to the chair of the person in front, boys would sometimes tease the girls by pulling on their hair, or braids if you were lucky. Usually the girl would just turn around and give you a mean face, but some of the teachers pets would raise their hand and tell on you. Then you got in trouble. My school was built in the mid 1920’s. By the time I started school in 1955 the inkwells weren’t being used anymore, and ball point pens had been invented, although many of the teachers still used fountain pens. My mom had a desk at school like I had (she also went to school in Chicago) but she used her inkwell to hold a bottle of ink, because people used fountain pens in those days.
Wow this is a great find….