History on the Move
History on the Move – Final Chapter!
Recall in mid-February I posted about assisting Historic Takoma rescue two 100+ year-old chestnut bookcases. The bookcases were part of a set of three in the front parlor of the Cady-Lee Mansion. The bookcases were not original to the home but had been there since the 1970s. Each bookcase is 12 feet wide and just under 10 feet tall, and each completely obstructed two windows behind them. Over two days I lead the effort to carefully dismantle and oversee removal of both bookcases.
Since then, I’ve installed and partially restored one of the bookcases in the Historic Takoma headquarters. This week I finished the job, including restoring and reinstalling eight drawers and many shelves that were found on-site that had been taken out to make room for modern lateral files (now removed) in the lower section.
These “bookcases” were originally made to display merchandise in a retail store. Each case is comprised of an upper and lower unit but extends the whole 12-foot span. My guess is the cases were built on-site in the original store and utilized available stock mouldings, finials, turnings, etc. The wood finish had characteristic white paint-like ageing and oxidation typical of old shellac-based finishes. Volunteers helped clean the entire case with warm water and a degreaser, then when dry we used cloths slightly dampened with denatured alcohol to dissolve the original shellac and refresh the finish and remove the white staining. I cleaned all the shelves similarly and added fresh shellac coats to the drawers. The drawers were missing frames, so I used one of the extra chestnut shelves as stock in making new ones that matched. I also patched holes and made new shelf hangers.
For safety I secured the top unit in three places to the masonry wall with metal strapping. I polished the entire surface with Howards Feed&Wax.
Good for another 100 years!
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