How to date / tell how old your furniture piece is

In this video I give a brief walk through of how I tell how old a piece of furniture is. I give tips on what to look out for and why it’s important to know the age. The first step is to know your furniture styles and I realize not everyone is familiar with all of them. Thesprucecrafts.com has excellent articles on styles of furniture, just type furniture styles in the search box

[@kgr0527]

I learned a lot! Thank you 😊

[@secondwindvtg]

I'm so glad! Thank you!

[@66THEOSU]

Thank you, well done, very informative.

[@secondwindvtg]

Thank you!

[@agjohnsonandson]

Great video!!! A couple of other points to consider: if you find Phillips head screws that are original to the piece, it is likely 1935+ era or later. Phillips head screws were invented in the early 30’s. A caution on dating dovetails. Many of the smaller furniture shops in the US still used hand cut dovetails until WW2’sh. The cost of shapers and cutters were too high for the small cabinet shops to afford.

[@secondwindvtg]

Thanks for the additional things! It’s detective work for sure and you have to consider all the info and see how it fits together to narrow it down. Form example if it has hand cut dice tails but no oxidation of the wood (or very little) then it would be from one of those bespoke shops, not an earlier piece 😊

[@acharyajamesoermannspeaker6563]

Excellent. I've wondered when Phillips came in. I thought it might be 1960s. Maybe it became common in the '60s.

[@lg.1235]

Thank you! I learnt alot from this. (Never seen a pin & scallop piece...I want one!) Lisa x (NewLisaLife)

[@secondwindvtg]

I’m glad it was helpful! I’m pretty sure the whole pin and scallop thing was purely an American work around to hand cutting dovetails. In Britain they still hand cut dovetails out of principal until the 1960’s (long after people figured out how to machine cut them) so there was no need for English pieces to have them. Maybe one day you will come across an American piece enjoying it’s time abroad!

[@nonyajones4484]

I just checked a desk, and dresser handed down from family. I always knew they were pretty old but they have the scallop and pin joinery. WOW!!!

[@kk-hd3ki]

Excellent info! Thx so much!!!

[@secondwindvtg]

Thanks, I’m glad it was useful!

[@paulmaryon9088]

Hi from the UK, yep we kept going with hand made dovetails for years, great vid thanks, not sure how I stumbled on it, love your socks, have you another pair like that? Thanks again, stay safe and well and keep em coming

[@secondwindvtg]

Hi! Thanks, I'm glad it you enjoyed it! I have a whole drawer full...I'm too lazy to match them up, I just shove them in and what ever I pull out goes lol

[@thekraftycreech]

fabulous advice!

[@secondwindvtg]

Thank you! I’m glad it was interesting!

[@KingsMom831]

Love the T-shirt! 🦖❤

[@secondwindvtg]

😂😂😂 thank you! If you know, you know 😂😂😂

[@martincodina2720]

Very nicely explained...

[@secondwindvtg]

Thank you! I’m glad you found it useful 😊

[@cforestmills]

Thank you for the video. Informative. What about wooden wheels? Found four on the bottom of an old dresser I found in the alleyway. All the signs you pointed to here date this piece from early 1800's, at least.

[@secondwindvtg]

No problem! I am glad you enjoyed it! Wooden wheel are generally an early 1900’s to 1930’s thing. When the vacuum was invented people were looking to make it easy to move pieces to clean under and behind. However they also added casters (what they’re called) to pieces they already had to make them mobile, it was a bit of a fad. I wouldn’t go by them alone, or any other factor for that matter. Figuring out the date is looking at all of the indicators and seeing what says what and what contradicts another in order to come to a conclusion. It’s a fun mystery to be solved :)

[@SitOnPickle]

What if the wheels are added later? Is there some ways to tell?

[@elizabethromine2890]

Did anyone else get American pie band camp vibes lol great vid tho lol

[@secondwindvtg]

😂😂😂😂 thanks on both accounts 😂😂😂😂

[@elizabethromine2890]

Ok well I’m pretty sure my camphor chest is real now considering the pin and scallops

[@secondwindvtg]

Fantastic! I’m glad you found the video useful

[@pricklypear7516]

"I'm not an expert." (Proceeds to teach me things I never thought to look for.) Two of the pieces I thought were merely old-ish (early 20th century) have chamfered bottoms. Only one of my pieces has the "sandwiched" lock mechanism; all the rest have the lock "hanging out" the back. Thanks!

[@secondwindvtg]

Nice! Glad I was helpful! Enjoy your awesome pieces!

[@acharyajamesoermannspeaker6563]

9:43 in regards to nasty wood being used for hidden parts, the maker has as much to do with it as age. Some makers used only very select wood even for fairly everyday furniture, particularly in the Mission Style. I've been quite shocked at how nasty some of the factory furniture from 1900-1940s hidden pieces are.

[@secondwindvtg]

Still better than particle board and mdf …. That’s the real nasty stuff

[@katiehale4411]

Thanks so much. What did you find out about your chest? Is it 18th century?

[@secondwindvtg]

Hi! I brought it to an antique dealer near me who does antiques roadshow type thing. According to him it’s early 1800’s, so close!

[@workslob]

1790 is my guess

[@secondwindvtg]

Yeah I wasn’t sure if it was late 1700’s or early 1800’s… I brought it to an appraiser and they said mid 1800’s… sometimes it’s hard to tell and comes down to “I know because I’ve been looking at these things for decades “. I’m leaning towards what you said though because IE couldn’t fin circular saw marks anywhere. The mystery continues….. I but I got a great price for it 😉

[@workslob]

Well ive been doing this for 35 years in England and provincial furniture which technically american furniture would be was always 30 years behind what the designs from London were producing. Also look for thick cut veneers in old furniture modern cut was always very thin, it looked a nice colour and patina which always comes with a premium. Keep going you have a good eye.

[@secondwindvtg]

Thanks! Thick veneers are the best…. I always like antique stuff and worked on that… never understood how people could blow through veneer… until I worked on a mid century mister piece lol. Good to know my intuition was right on this guy! Thanks for the feed back

[@JR-nw4to]

@@workslob This 20 to 30 year "rule" I often hear quoted about colonial and provincial furniture. However, I have also heard from authorities in Australian colonial furniture (I'm from Australia) that this "rule" is not true. In reality, the new designs coming to the colonies only took as long as the ship ride over - around 8 months. This makes sense to me, but I still see the 30 years quoted regularly. I'm no expert, but find this really interesting. Cheers!

[@declansteward7863]

@@secondwindvtg If the appraiser was putting it at 1850’s, he had better have a real good reason. “I know because I know” is not a reason. That screams period American federal. Circa 1800 +/- 15 years. Not empire nor Victorian nor Egyptian revival or anything else going on in the 1850s. The provincial rule of adding 20-30 years has more sway in older nations before 1830- after which we get these things called trains. Does not apply to your appraiser’s assessment. Be more confident in your assessment. I’m by no means saying the appraiser is wrong, but unless he could give me real good reason why it’s not a period federal piece, I would not believe him. It’s a wonderful piece. If you wanted it refinished, and was done properly, you would not hurt the liquidity. Everything should be reversible- I.e. hide glue and shellac. As little sanding as possible. Strip with alcohol or lacquer thinner by hand with 0000 wool. Use wax. Refinish or not.