Desks in Context

THF244577.jpg
Images of desks - familiar work spaces that are both practical and personal - can communicate information about technology, society, and human behavior.

Hand-Colored Engraving, "Prodigal Son Receiving His Patrimony," 1800

View Artifact

Lithograph, "A Seal of Affection," 1846

View Artifact

Comic Valentine, "Book-Keeper," circa 1855

View Artifact

Trade Card for Tarrant's Seltzer Aperient, Tarrant & Co., 1880-1900

View Artifact

Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit, 1891

View Artifact

Trade Card for Prouty's Business College, circa 1895

View Artifact

Telephone Switchboard Operators at Work, 1896

View Artifact

Men and Women Working in a Shoe Factory Office, Boston, Massachusetts, 1903

View Artifact

Men and Women Working in a Shoe Factory Office, Boston, Massachusetts, 1904

View Artifact

Henry Ford in His Office at the Piquette Avenue Plant, circa 1908 - 1

View Artifact

Thomas Edison Working at His Desk, circa 1908

View Artifact

H.J. Heinz Company Board of Directors Meeting in President's Office, May 26, 1909

View Artifact

"Booker T. Washington" Fan Advertising Jacobs Brothers Funeral Home, circa 1955

View Artifact

John Burroughs in His Hay-Barn Study near Woodchuck Lodge, 1911

View Artifact

Luther Burbank at His Desk, 1915

View Artifact

Woman Using the Magnavox Electro-Dynamic Telephone, circa 1920

View Artifact

Clara Barrus at John Burroughs' Woodchuck Lodge, 1920

View Artifact

Family Time at Home, 1924 - 2

View Artifact

Henry Ford's Office, Ford Engineering Laboratory, circa 1924

View Artifact

Portrait of George Matthew Adams, circa 1925

View Artifact

Telegraphic Department at the Ford Rouge Plant Administration Building, 1931 - 1

View Artifact

Anita Searl Writing at Desk, circa 1933

View Artifact

Students and Teacher in a One-Room School near Richmond Hill, Georgia, circa 1940 - 2

View Artifact

World War II Poster, "The Stationer, He Also Serves Defense," Eberhard Faber Pencil Company, 1942-1945

View Artifact

Ford Employee R. L. Walker Buying a War Bond at the Rouge Plant, Dearborn, Michigan, 1943 - 1

View Artifact

Office Area in the Ford Rouge Plant Administration Building, Dearborn, Michigan, 1945

View Artifact

Montgomery City Bus Lines Office, Montgomery, Alabama, 1954-1960

View Artifact

William Clay Ford at Ford Motor Company, April 4, 1955

View Artifact

"Much More than Just a Collection of Desks," Herman Miller Furniture Company, 1951-1960

View Artifact

Action Office Project Drawing by Robert Propst, April 6, 1964

View Artifact
Keywords
Themes

More to Explore

Office chair on display in the Furniture exhibition in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

Explore Popular Research Topics

Get authoritative information on key topics related to our collections.
Rosa Parks Visiting Mattox House in Greenfield Village, 1992 (Object ID: P.B.108917.7)

View Articles

Explore stories from the collections of The Henry Ford.

Guests interact with the Innovation Table on the Museum floor displaying items from the digital collection

Search Our Digital Collections

Begin to explore our extensive archive of digitized artifacts.