I bought this cute little table to hold my paint and when I looked closely at it there's a label that says Brandt along with the number 3 and the words "ancestry mahogany" stamped underneath. A lady at the flea market said it's a telephone table but that doesn't really make sense to me based on the design. It looks like a planter. The brass tray is removable and it has casters and a handle. Any help will solve the mystery!
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These are called a Plate Warmer Stand. Here is a picture of one similar from a 1978 newspaper. I am not clear how they actually work...as I have never seen one. Neat and nifty find!! Thanks for sharing!
What a blessing to have the ad. That is exactly what it is. How on earth did you find the ad? Wow. I am so excited to know what it is.
Hi Kacey, old things and personal history (of people and said things) speak to me too and research is what I do...both for my work and my reselling/collecting passion! I also have a passion for unusual furniture, so I just did some noodling around and it popped right up on one of my favorite sites, newspapers.com. You have a very cool find!! Enjoy it!
It is a telephone table. There is room for the telephone and telephone books.
Most likely Ancestry Mahogany is written on your table like on this Ancestry Mahogany End Table by Brandt tylergraceauctions.hibid.com/
I think Ancestry Mahogany is the name of the collection.
Brandt uses the term "Ancestry Mahogany" for this piece and others in other lines of its furniture as a description of the finish of the furniture--the dark color/stain. Other brands...especially in the 1970s and 1980s also used the same term for their product's finish color.
If you look back on years of old furniture ads and stories of antique furniture dealers, the term appears to have evolved from a hint of European "snobbery" around their furniture quality vs. that of what was being made in the US".
One 1928 reference calls "American Colonial" furniture "not of mahogany ancestry". In 1939 Florida news article, the writer was promoting the virtues of "a table boasting English ancestry in Mahogany".
The wood itself has an interesting history. This link explains why we often see stickers on old furniture proclaiming its mahogany content:
www.furniturecityhistory.org/
Another good article about the history of furniture in general also touches on the stickers:
www.antiquetrader.com/
Thanks so much for this information. That really helps me understand what I actually have. I would love to know what it sold for originally and to see it in a room. I looked for this sort of information but didnt find anything.
Brandt did make Telephone Tables, but they look different.
Vintage Wooden Telephone Table with Phone Book Rack Brandt Furniture Company picclick.com/
Vintage Maple Brandt Telephone Stand / Side Table w / Shelf US $ 149.98 www.ebay.com/
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