#librarycardcatalogs — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #librarycardcatalogs, aggregated by home.social.
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Acquired Midcentury Oak Modular Library Card Catalog
I’ve expanded my index card database storage by 30 new drawers of 13 3/4″ of space each.30 drawers of filing space for 3x5 inch index cards.
Modular set up in 4 pieces including two sections of 5 columns of drawers in three rows each.
Assembled dimensions: 33″ wide x 17 3/8″ deep and stands 43 1/2″ tall.
Primarily composed of quarter sawn oak.This model appears to be a Gaylord Bros. card index, but is missing explicit badging. It has the appropriate size for the modular Gaylord system and seems to be missing a few pieces including some of the dovetail pieces which would typically hold the unit securely together. Sadly, it’s also missing all the card rods. The top seems to have been added from another unit and has a large crack in it. A few of the drawers need some minor nail and/or gluing attention.
It’s definitely in rougher condition than my first Gaylord card index. The piece needs a fair amount of refurbishment work. The stain has gone a tad to the green side, but I’m on the fence about stripping, sanding, and re-staining the whole thing. I am considering refurbishing one section and adding it to my primary Gaylord cabinet as I think the two would match up very well.
It’s in functional and usable shape, so I spent a couple hours blowing it out with my air compressor, cleaning it off, fixing a few nails, and giving it a much needed coat of furniture polish.
I was happy to pick it up for a price tag of $200 (or $6.66 per drawer), though it may have been a bit much for something in this condition compared to prior purchases. The seller did mention that they had more than six interested parties at this price within just two hours of listing, so I suppose I’m lucky that I saw it and responded as quickly as I did. Of course within that timeframe it was in my vehicle and headed home.
The base has a property tag from the city of Arcadia, but the owner has had it for the past 30 years and was using it primarily for baseball card storage.
New Grand Total
Recalculating from my collection of card indexes, I think this new cabinet brings my total up to 10 “boxes” with a total of 107 drawers featuring almost 160 linear feet of index card storage space. This comes out to the possibility of storing 265,475 index cards, with a cost per drawer hovering around $11.00 and still dropping.
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Acquired Midcentury Oak Modular Library Card Catalog
I’ve expanded my index card database storage by 30 new drawers of 13 3/4″ of space each.30 drawers of filing space for 3x5 inch index cards.
Modular set up in 4 pieces including two sections of 5 columns of drawers in three rows each.
Assembled dimensions: 33″ wide x 17 3/8″ deep and stands 43 1/2″ tall.
Primarily composed of quarter sawn oak.This model appears to be a Gaylord Bros. card index, but is missing explicit badging. It has the appropriate size for the modular Gaylord system and seems to be missing a few pieces including some of the dovetail pieces which would typically hold the unit securely together. Sadly, it’s also missing all the card rods. The top seems to have been added from another unit and has a large crack in it. A few of the drawers need some minor nail and/or gluing attention.
It’s definitely in rougher condition than my first Gaylord card index. The piece needs a fair amount of refurbishment work. The stain has gone a tad to the green side, but I’m on the fence about stripping, sanding, and re-staining the whole thing. I am considering refurbishing one section and adding it to my primary Gaylord cabinet as I think the two would match up very well.
It’s in functional and usable shape, so I spent a couple hours blowing it out with my air compressor, cleaning it off, fixing a few nails, and giving it a much needed coat of furniture polish.
I was happy to pick it up for a price tag of $200 (or $6.66 per drawer), though it may have been a bit much for something in this condition compared to prior purchases. The seller did mention that they had more than six interested parties at this price within just two hours of listing, so I suppose I’m lucky that I saw it and responded as quickly as I did. Of course within that timeframe it was in my vehicle and headed home.
The base has a property tag from the city of Arcadia, but the owner has had it for the past 30 years and was using it primarily for baseball card storage.
New Grand Total
Recalculating from my collection of card indexes, I think this new cabinet brings my total up to 10 “boxes” with a total of 107 drawers featuring almost 160 linear feet of index card storage space. This comes out to the possibility of storing 265,475 index cards, with a cost per drawer hovering around $11.00 and still dropping.
-
Acquired Midcentury Oak Modular Library Card Catalog
I’ve expanded my index card database storage by 30 new drawers of 13 3/4″ of space each.30 drawers of filing space for 3x5 inch index cards.
Modular set up in 4 pieces including two sections of 5 columns of drawers in three rows each.
Assembled dimensions: 33″ wide x 17 3/8″ deep and stands 43 1/2″ tall.
Primarily composed of quarter sawn oak.This model appears to be a Gaylord Bros. card index, but is missing explicit badging. It has the appropriate size for the modular Gaylord system and seems to be missing a few pieces including some of the dovetail pieces which would typically hold the unit securely together. Sadly, it’s also missing all the card rods. The top seems to have been added from another unit and has a large crack in it. A few of the drawers need some minor nail and/or gluing attention.
It’s definitely in rougher condition than my first Gaylord card index. The piece needs a fair amount of refurbishment work. The stain has gone a tad to the green side, but I’m on the fence about stripping, sanding, and re-staining the whole thing. I am considering refurbishing one section and adding it to my primary Gaylord cabinet as I think the two would match up very well.
It’s in functional and usable shape, so I spent a couple hours blowing it out with my air compressor, cleaning it off, fixing a few nails, and giving it a much needed coat of furniture polish.
I was happy to pick it up for a price tag of $200 (or $6.66 per drawer), though it may have been a bit much for something in this condition compared to prior purchases. The seller did mention that they had more than six interested parties at this price within just two hours of listing, so I suppose I’m lucky that I saw it and responded as quickly as I did. Of course within that timeframe it was in my vehicle and headed home.
The base has a property tag from the city of Arcadia, but the owner has had it for the past 30 years and was using it primarily for baseball card storage.
New Grand Total
Recalculating from my collection of card indexes, I think this new cabinet brings my total up to 10 “boxes” with a total of 107 drawers featuring almost 160 linear feet of index card storage space. This comes out to the possibility of storing 265,475 index cards, with a cost per drawer hovering around $11.00 and still dropping.
-
Acquired Midcentury Oak Modular Library Card Catalog
I’ve expanded my index card database storage by 30 new drawers of 13 3/4″ of space each.30 drawers of filing space for 3x5 inch index cards.
Modular set up in 4 pieces including two sections of 5 columns of drawers in three rows each.
Assembled dimensions: 33″ wide x 17 3/8″ deep and stands 43 1/2″ tall.
Primarily composed of quarter sawn oak.This model appears to be a Gaylord Bros. card index, but is missing explicit badging. It has the appropriate size for the modular Gaylord system and seems to be missing a few pieces including some of the dovetail pieces which would typically hold the unit securely together. Sadly, it’s also missing all the card rods. The top seems to have been added from another unit and has a large crack in it. A few of the drawers need some minor nail and/or gluing attention.
It’s definitely in rougher condition than my first Gaylord card index. The piece needs a fair amount of refurbishment work. The stain has gone a tad to the green side, but I’m on the fence about stripping, sanding, and re-staining the whole thing. I am considering refurbishing one section and adding it to my primary Gaylord cabinet as I think the two would match up very well.
It’s in functional and usable shape, so I spent a couple hours blowing it out with my air compressor, cleaning it off, fixing a few nails, and giving it a much needed coat of furniture polish.
I was happy to pick it up for a price tag of $200 (or $6.66 per drawer), though it may have been a bit much for something in this condition compared to prior purchases. The seller did mention that they had more than six interested parties at this price within just two hours of listing, so I suppose I’m lucky that I saw it and responded as quickly as I did. Of course within that timeframe it was in my vehicle and headed home.
The base has a property tag from the city of Arcadia, but the owner has had it for the past 30 years and was using it primarily for baseball card storage.
New Grand Total
Recalculating from my collection of card indexes, I think this new cabinet brings my total up to 10 “boxes” with a total of 107 drawers featuring almost 160 linear feet of index card storage space. This comes out to the possibility of storing 265,475 index cards, with a cost per drawer hovering around $11.00 and still dropping.
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Acquired Brodart Colored Blank Punched Catalog Cards (shopbrodart.com)
Stocking stuffers anyone? Santa brought 6,000 index cards down the proverbial chimney today. Should have enough now to index all the books in the house?Medium-weight colored blank punched catalog cards
blue, green, buff, ivory, white, salmon -
Breaking News: Brodart No Longer Manufactures or Sells Library Card Catalogs
With no advance notice or apparent fanfare, Brodart, one of the major library supplies and furnishing companies in the United States, has quit manufacturing, distributing, and selling library card catalogs and library charging trays. This seems sad news for analog library enthusiasts coming just two days after Melvil Dewey's 174th birthday on December 10th. I've got word in for specific details about end dates for manufacturing and the last sales on some of these products. Apparently the […] -
Breaking News: Brodart No Longer Manufactures or Sells Library Card Catalogs
With no advance notice or apparent fanfare, Brodart, one of the major library supplies and furnishing companies in the United States, has quit manufacturing, distributing, and selling library card catalogs and library charging trays. This seems sad news for analog library enthusiasts coming just two days after Melvil Dewey's 174th birthday on December 10th. I've got word in for specific details about end dates for manufacturing and the last sales on some of these products. Apparently the […] -
Brodart has recently discontinued their salmon card index cards with pre-drilled holes #23-188-218. This has been a shift since the summer of 2025, though they’re still carrying the standard salmon index cards (without predrilled holds for card catalog rods).
A conversation with their customer service team seems to indicate there aren’t plans for discontinuing their other cards (blue, green, ivory, white, and buff), but: caveat emptor as they no longer list their card catalog furniture or their charging trays on their website, their Dewey Decimal tabbed cards are now gone, and Demco recently quit carrying their buff/red-lined Library of Congress cards this past year.
Incidentally, they’re doing a 20% discount on their index cards (and related circulation supplies) for the holidays right now, so stock up if you need them.
In honor of Melvil Dewey’s 174th birthday yesterday, I’ve just purchased 6,000 cards in an attempt to get them to continue stocking them all and to have a happier 2026.
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Acquisition: Early 1900s 3 x 5 Inch No. 15 Card Index Filing Cabinet with No. 1535 C. I. Inserts from The Macey Company
The Macey Company Card Index Filing Cabinet
On July 15, 2024 I acquired an oak filing cabinet with 16 drawers for 3 x 5 inch index card storage. It's a warm and lovely piece of antique furniture as well as an excellent example of an early 20th century card index cabinet designed for business use and a paper-based pre-cursor of our more modern computer databases.
From the exterior, there were none of the typical metal badging or decals printed on the filing cabinet to give an idea of the [...]
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Acquisition: Early 1900s 3 x 5 Inch No. 15 Card Index Filing Cabinet with No. 1535 C. I. Inserts from The Macey Company
The Macey Company Card Index Filing Cabinet
On July 15, 2024 I acquired an oak filing cabinet with 16 drawers for 3 x 5 inch index card storage. It's a warm and lovely piece of antique furniture as well as an excellent example of an early 20th century card index cabinet designed for business use and a paper-based pre-cursor of our more modern computer databases.
From the exterior, there were none of the typical metal badging or decals printed on the filing cabinet to give an idea of the [...]
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Acquisition: Early 1900s 3 x 5 Inch No. 15 Card Index Filing Cabinet with No. 1535 C. I. Inserts from The Macey Company
The Macey Company Card Index Filing Cabinet
On July 15, 2024 I acquired an oak filing cabinet with 16 drawers for 3 x 5 inch index card storage. It's a warm and lovely piece of antique furniture as well as an excellent example of an early 20th century card index cabinet designed for business use and a paper-based pre-cursor of our more modern computer databases.
From the exterior, there were none of the typical metal badging or decals printed on the filing cabinet to give an idea of the [...]
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Acquisition: Early 1900s 3 x 5 Inch No. 15 Card Index Filing Cabinet with No. 1535 C. I. Inserts from The Macey Company
The Macey Company Card Index Filing Cabinet
On July 15, 2024 I acquired an oak filing cabinet with 16 drawers for 3 x 5 inch index card storage. It's a warm and lovely piece of antique furniture as well as an excellent example of an early 20th century card index cabinet designed for business use and a paper-based pre-cursor of our more modern computer databases.
From the exterior, there were none of the typical metal badging or decals printed on the filing cabinet to give an idea of the [...]
-
Acquisition: Early 1900s 3 x 5 Inch No. 15 Card Index Filing Cabinet with No. 1535 C. I. Inserts from The Macey Company
The Macey Company Card Index Filing Cabinet
On July 15, 2024 I acquired an oak filing cabinet with 16 drawers for 3 x 5 inch index card storage. It's a warm and lovely piece of antique furniture as well as an excellent example of an early 20th century card index cabinet designed for business use and a paper-based pre-cursor of our more modern computer databases.
From the exterior, there were none of the typical metal badging or decals printed on the filing cabinet to give an idea of the [...]
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If you’re going to punch holes in 3 x 5″ index cards for your new library card catalog and want something to match your 20 gauge office furniture, you really ought to have an era-appropriate hole punch. Presenting the industrial strength Mutual Centamatic Punch No. 250 (Made in Worchester, Mass. U.S.A.), which I picked up today at the local thrift store for $0.75.
#analogOffice #analogOfficeEquipment #atomicEraFurniture #holePunches #libraryCardCatalogs
https://boffosocko.com/2023/10/03/mutual-centamatic-punch-no-250-made-in-worchester-mass-u-s-a/