The Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposia - Smithsonian ...

n u m b e r 5 5 • 1 2 5Figure 3. Victorian writing desk and laptop. From the collection of Catherine J. Golden.a time when heating was inefficient, houses were not routinelyelectrified, and people made long visits to friends andfamily lasting weeks and months. Desks typically fit intoone’s luggage, making them popular for travel. The portabilityand size of the writing desk facilitated comfortablewriting conditions and confidentiality since a writer couldmove it to be close to a good light source and a warm fireor into a private study to write undisturbed (Figure 3).We can determine the gender and social class of adesk’s owner by looking at its size, raw materials, and degreeof decoration. A man’s writing desk is large enoughto be useful (typical dimensions are fourteen inches by teninches by six inches). Manufacturers and designers madegentlemen’s desks of mahogany, walnut, ash, or rosewood,with superior veneers of good grain, color, and patina,leather- lined slopes, and brass bindings on the cornersand edges. In contrast, affordable commercial desks aremore commonly of oak or pine. The Victorian gentlemanfavored clean lines, quality materials, simple but tastefuldecoration, and, in writing desks that were not industrial,understated elegance. In contrast, ladies’ desks appearsmaller and daintier than gentlemen’s desks (e.g. ten inchesby eight inches by three inches) and carry knowledge of thegrowing Victorian fancy goods trade. Slopes have silk orvelvet linings; lids contain mosaic and marquetry inlays,engraving, embossing, painting, and piercing. Expensivedesks feature elaborate designs of fruits, flowers, birds,hearts, and topographical views and are exquisitely ornamentedwith pearls, gold, silver, precious gems, seashells,tortoiseshell, and china. The lady’s desk still had to be usefulfor teaching, household accounts, correspondence, and,in some cases, novel writing: Jane Austen’s father gave hera writing desk filled with stationery to encourage her talent;20 the Brontë sisters composed their memorable novelson writing slopes on display in the Brontë Parsonage Museumin the Yorkshire town of Haworth (Figure 4).Some desks contain hidden chambers, called secretdrawers. These were places to safeguard bank notes,billets- doux, and jewels that a wife might not wish herhusband to know about—William Thackeray’s infamousBecky Sharp in Vanity Fair (1848) uses her writing deskfor that very purpose. While the outside of a desk teachesus about aesthetics, gender, and social class, the inside, includingthe key lock and hidden drawers, reveals how thewriting desk functioned as a transportable, private spaceto safeguard among other things the clandestine life of itsVictorian owner.Popular Pictorial EnvelopesWith the rise of the postage stamp came a surge inenvelope production. Victorians, who rushed in recordnumbers to attend the Great Exhibition of 1851, marveled