Globe Furniture Student Desk

1920 to 1950

This oak and iron student desk manufactured by Waterloo’s Globe Furniture is quite interesting in its design. This desk is missing its seat. These desks had a seat and backrest in the front and the table surface for another desk on the back. By placing desks one in front of the other, you get a complete row of desks and seats. One more little detail you may have missed – these desks were screwed directly into the floor. Globe Furniture desks filled classrooms during a time when students sat in straight rows and classroom discipline was a top priority. Globe Furniture designed and manufactured a complete line of classroom furniture including desks, chairs, and science laboratory desks.

The Globe Furniture Company was famous worldwide for its finely crafted church and school furniture. Businessmen Edward F. Seagram, Aloyes Bauer and John Letter purchased the successful Walkerville, Ontario furniture business in 1910, moving it to Waterloo. Globe craftsmen earned a reputation around the world for the quality of their carpentry. For many, the heart of Globe Furniture lay in its furniture design, but its soul rested in the six woodcarvers they employed full-time. Globe furniture was sold all over Canada and as far as South Africa and Peru. With the invention of inexpensive wood laminates and plastics, the company could no longer compete. The Globe Furniture Company declared bankruptcy in 1968. The buildings came down in 2000 to make way for the Barrel Yards luxury apartment development.

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