{"product_id":"vintage-steelmaster-streamliner-steel-desk-letter-tray-c-1975-1995","title":"Vintage Steelmaster Streamliner Steel Desk Letter Tray, c. 1975–1995","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA single tier desk letter tray in pressed steel, finished in the warm putty enamel that American office equipment wore for forty years. The pan is drawn in one piece with a rolled lip, the back wall rises straight, and the front sweeps down in a long shallow curve so a hand can reach a sheet without lifting the stack. The sides carry the same curve, which is the detail that gives the model its name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe underside is formed steel with folded and spot welded corners, pierced at each end for the posts that let trays of the same pattern stack into a column. The maker name is embossed into the metal at the back, and a silver foil label is applied beneath.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe embossing reads Streamliner Desk Trays from Steelmaster. The foil label beneath names Atapco Office Products Group of 12312 Olive Boulevard, Suite 400, St. Louis, Missouri, lists the rest of the range, and is marked made in the United States of America.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSteelmaster is one of the long running names in American office steel, the brand under which index card boxes, cash and bond boxes, vertical and horizontal organisers and desk trays were sold to offices from the middle of the twentieth century. The Streamliner pattern, with its swept front and stackable posts, is a direct descendant of the streamlined industrial design that American manufacturers adopted in the 1930s and then kept selling long after the style itself had passed, because the shape genuinely worked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe label is the dating evidence and it is worth reading carefully. It carries a toll free number in the 1-800 format and a suite address for a named corporate group rather than a factory address. Toll free consumer numbers of that kind came into general use on American consumer packaging from the late 1970s, became standard through the 1980s, and a vanity number spelling the company name is later still. The label therefore places this particular tray well after the pattern was introduced, in the later decades of its production run rather than at the beginning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ec. 1975–1995. The Streamliner pattern itself is considerably older, but this example is dated by its label rather than by its shape. The applied foil label carries a 1-800 vanity telephone number and a corporate suite address for Atapco Office Products Group, conventions that entered American consumer packaging from the late 1970s and became standard through the 1980s, so this tray belongs to the later part of the pattern's long production\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaker\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSteelmaster, Atapco Office Products Group, St. Louis, Missouri. Made in the United States of America\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePattern\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eStreamliner, with swept front and sides and stacking posts\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePressed steel with baked enamel finish\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSingle tier letter tray, stackable with others of the same pattern\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eStreamliner Desk Trays from Steelmaster embossed into the steel, applied silver foil Atapco label beneath\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eDimensions\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eApproximately 13 in. wide by 9 in. deep by 2.5 in. high\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eGood working condition. Enamel sound overall with light scratching and scuffing on the base and minor marks consistent with desk use. No rust, dents or distortion noted. Label present and legible\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOffice steel has become one of the most reliable ways to give a room some backbone. Against wood, brass and paper the putty enamel reads as quiet and industrial rather than decorative, and it makes everything you put in it look intentional. Use it as it was meant to be used for mail and papers, or press it into service on a kitchen counter for post, in a studio for sheet material, or on a shelf for whatever wants corralling. It is also the rare vintage object that costs nothing to live with, since it cleans with a damp cloth and will outlast anything plastic you might buy instead.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67554350202985,"sku":"VE-1732","price":96.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/01_001b3378-4185-4620-bded-ab614b0a1a72.jpg?v=1790529600","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/vintage-steelmaster-streamliner-steel-desk-letter-tray-c-1975-1995","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}