Identifying a Vintage Chest of Drawers?

Identifying a Vintage Chest of Drawers? My mother passed in May and I'm just cleaning the garage and found this very heavy chest on chest that was my grandmother's. She was born in 1920.

There are markings on the back. Do they mean anything? CHEST ON CHEST YORH RSBU.

I would love to know if this piece is historical in anyway or just sentimental for me.

Thank you!

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cybergrannie
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July 5, 20200 found this helpful

Best Answer

This style chest was really the rave in the late 40s-50's and I had a bedroom set with a chest on chest similar to yours. Brand name vintage chests like this are still available but will cost more than some other style chest of drawers.

Since they were so popular there were many factories that made 'copies' of the best selling brands. They always varied the design a little but the overall style was still a 'copy' of the original.

I believe the one your mother bought was one of these copies.
The overall appearance does not compare with the original brand names - drawer pulls are fashioned the same but the ones on your chest look very thin compared to pulls on the originals.
Not sure how the drawers are made but if you look at the workmanship in some of the links below you may be able to compare and see if they are made the same.
These copies were made so the 'working class' could afford to have some of the styles only the wealthy could afford. Most of these would have been sold in the smaller furniture stores where as the brand names would have only been sold in higher end stores.

I'm glad you have something your mother used as she probably enjoyed having it for many years and an exact name will not make a difference in the overall picture.

I'm not sure that I would make any big changes - maybe clean it up and keep the memories.

Here are some links that you can check out and see if you agree that it could be a 'copy' of one (or more) of these styles. Most of these are from the same era - 40s-50s.

www.ebay.com/.../184205446796?hash=item2ae3800e8c...

www.ebay.com/.../273788183259?hash=item3fbf0c22db...

www.ebay.com/.../163677851342?hash=item261bf5cece...

poehere
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July 2, 20201 found this helpful

My search on the name is not brining up anything at all. I can find some chests of drawers that are similar to yours but do not have the same handles on them at all. I think the next step would be to take some really good images of this and go to an antique shop in your area.

They might be able to assist you in identifying this chest of drawers. I do see it has some water damage and will need a bit of repair work. Before doing anything to the dresser I would ask the antique store if this check of drawers has any value at all.

Ana
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July 4, 20200 found this helpful

This piece is not as old as you think, because of its design character. Without the company logo ,serial numbers,etc, makes it hard to validate. You take more pictures and show to a professional antiques seller/dealer for more accurate info.

Pghgirl40
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July 4, 20200 found this helpful

You have my sympathies on the loss of your mom. So sad.

Can you tell me where you are located? Is Rudolph the family name or perhaps that was the store it came from? How tall is it? Are there any markings in the drawers or under the drawers?

There were several furniture stores with that name in the US. It looks like a 1950s piece, maybe late 1940s. Maybe with more information I can offer some additional guidance.

Thanks!

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