Two years in the making, this vintage 1940’s Sears and Roebuck Buffet is finally completed, and has been delivered to its rightful owners, my sister-in-law and brother!!! In addition, I did some research and found the original Sears and Roebuck catalog page listing of catalog #2349-Buffet. Did you know that Ancestry.com has partnered together with Sears and Roebuck to make archives of the catalog available? Virtually every page from 1896 – 1993 is for viewing, access, and research. How cool is that? Please note that you do have to join Ancestry.com; however they do offer a free trial period of 14 days, that you can easily cancel if you are not interested.
Refinished Sears and Roebuck Vintage Buffet
Researching old furniture ads
So, let me tell you about this particular buffet. Once on Ancestry.com, I began looking thru the archives starting in 1931. Due to its style, I suspected that this piece was much more likely from the 1940’s due to its straighter lines and size.
Looking for tell tale markings on the back of the furniture
One of the clues I used to zero in on an era, was this invoice still adhered to the back and other markings on the back of the furniture.
Although there wasn’t any sale’s date, there was very small type at the bottom that listed the print date of the blank invoice label as 1931. Conclusion: if the blank label wasn’t printed until 1931, then the buffet could not have been sold, prior to at least 1931. From there, I started at the year 1931, I found the furniture section, and then I jotted down the page number, and as I forged through each year, it made it easier to locate the furniture section of the catalog.
I finally hit pay dirt in the 1941 catalog. The listing proves that the piece was made of maple, as I suspected. It also lists the finish as “Harvest, a mellow amber tone.” In 1941, a seven piece suite, was selling for $69.98, can you say inflation??
Stripping several layers of old paint
Here is how the piece looked when my brother commissioned me to strip and re-stain it. There were at least three layers of paint, and as it turned out, it became a “commissioned-us” job. My husband had to step in and do the stripping and sanding. I’m just not any good with that kind of DIY!!
(Sorry I don’t have a before of the whole piece, I wasn’t blogging back then.)
Bringing it back to bare wood
Here is how it looked once it had been stripped and sanded. To say my husband is a perfectionist is an understatement.
What I love about pre-mid-century furniture made just before the mid century is that it still has a little bit of curve, detail and clunkiness to it. Although, I’m no expert, so this is just my opinion on the matter.
This piece was all solid wood, my friends. They just don’t make ’em like they used to, do they?
Refinished with stain and tung oil
And…ta-da!!! Here is how it turned out once I gave it several coats of MinWax natural stain and MinWax Tung Oil Finish.
I delivered it a few weeks ago and I’m pleased to say that sis-in-law and brother were extremely pleased.
Due to my husband’s heavy work schedule and several life events, the buffet was tucked in the corner several times before completion, but I can take very little credit. It couldn’t have been accomplished if it weren’t for the tenacity and skill of my husband!!! Thanks, Ken… you’re awesome!!
Vicky says
This is so cool looking. I love that you were able to find it on ancestry.com. Geneaology has always been fascinating to me but I had no idea they did things like furniture too!
Mel says
That is so cool about the history of the buffet and under $70 for 7 pieces crazy! You and of course the hubs have done a beautiful job of restoring it. I do prefer the lighter colour 🙂
Sharleen says
Great….love it 🙂
Shanna Gilbert says
Amy this turned out really beautiful! Stripping furniture is such hard work! Amazing job!
Clydia @ THREE MANGO SEEDS says
Wow! It turned out great, you really did a fantastic job.
Thistlewood Farms says
This is such a great piece!!
Go Hubby!! I love that you found the original ad!!
Have a blessed and wonderful day!!
[email protected] says
Oh wow!! That is beautiful!! Shows what patience and hard work will get you! I would have slapped some paint on it and called it good because I’m too lazy for sanding and staining! What a fun piece with some great history!
Nancy @ Artsy Chicks Rule says
Oh how totally cool Amy!!! I LOVE history and old things and this is just fabulous. I loved reading about it. Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂 (and it’s a beauty!!)
Nancy
David Baldwin says
If it’s of any value, I have a chair from the set here in Ohio! Couldn’t believe when I did an image search the fourth image in the list was your catalog shot! Same catalog and description number even! It has the name and address of the gentlemen in Marion, Ohio it was delivered to. Maybe I should try to look up the family!
JaneEllen says
That buffet is absolutely breath taking, what a gorgeous piece of furniture. How fortunate they are to own it and have you two bring it back to life.
Quite a few years ago when we lived in .San Diego we were looking for end tables but all we could find were pressed wood for outrageous prices, no thanks. That led us to antique stores in San Diego and looking at several flea markets/swap meets. How our eyes were opened so happily by what we found – real beautiful wood furniture.. What a happy discovery since then, we have some very nice pieces of real wood furniture we have had for years since then. We discovered a wonderful shop down in South Bay where we bought some actual Irish and English antiques brought over. After many moves and storing these pieces they are still in great shape, have passed couple pieces onto our daughter/family.
How I would love to have that buffet, so gorgeous. Great job.
Amy says
Hi JaneEllen,
Oh, I can’t agree with you more. We have an old 1920’s-ish set in as our bedroom that I got for $20 at a garage sale 20+ years ago. I don’t know exactly what type of wood it is, it might be hickory, but it’s lovely and rustic and solid…and rather beat up, but honestly, we don’t care because it’s the real deal and unique. The garage sale guy said it was his grand parents and was at one time painted white, and then stripped. So you can see a few white spots in the area near the small art deco twist along the front, but other than that, it’s bare wood of the paint-stripped kind, haha. Imperfect and beautiful. The only thing I have done to these pieces is rub them down with minwax antique oil finish. I don’t know if you’ve ever used that, but it was suggested to me by a guy who re-furbed antique furniture in the store below the apartment I lived in years ago.
Now I will say that since our bedroom is so small, we may have to change these up in the near future, but since I’m not sure I can part with these, I may move them into my hobby shed for storage. The only way I’d get rid of these is if I gave them to someone else who appreciated their raw beauty like you and I have just confessed to.
Thanks so much for sharing your story of love of older furniture. May these beauties live on!
Amy
Mary says
This is such a beautiful piece. I have really come to appreciate the cleanliness of natural wood and the fresh look of it. I know we do a lot of painting but sometimes we just need to leave things alone or in this case discover the beauty underneath. Well done!!
Debrashoppeno5 says
What an interesting article. The buffet looks fantastic. I love painted furniture but there are time s to leave it natural.