A few weeks ago, I took my mother shopping and we came across a place called Hansen House – an antique importer over on Clark Drive which was closing down. Everything in the store was 75% off and it was the last day before closing so we decided to check it out. There were a lot of ‘Asian themed’ furniture but nothing caught my eye until I came across a desk covered with a pile of stuff at the back of the store.

The desk caught my eye because for one, it was super old - it looked like it was from the 1950’s. What also drew me to it was the Art Deco/streamline design to it. It was an all metal desk that had a lower shelf part to it, possibly for a typewriter. I asked the owner where he got it from but he didn’t remeber and had been lugging it around with him for decades.  I ended up buying it for $45! I took the chair along with it which had a gorgeous Art Deco motif along the base. The upholstery didn’t look original and it looked like it had been repainted black.

After hauling it back home and into the garage, I tried to find a date or a manufacturers name and came across: The Invincible Furniture Comapny – Manitowoc, WI. Heading straight to the computer, I was surprised to see that The Invincible Furniture Company still exists today.

They began in 1904, making safes and burglar alarms, until in 1919 they were awarded a military contract to manufacture metal lockers which would be used on navy ships. After WWI , the company decided to create an aircraft division and designed three planes, all of which came to a halt due to the depression. In 1948 the company took a turn and designed office furniture, like the one you see above called The Modernaire which became its signature line of office furniture for the next 50 years.

I’m not sure how I’ll refinish the desk, but I’m thinking about stripping off all the paint and taking it to an auto body shop to have it re-sprayed to a silver finish, possibly with a glossy coat. As for the chair, I couldn’t find a label on it, but I’ll most likely look into refinishing it first.