BEARS PLAQUE OF THE MOORE COMBINATION DESK COMPANY, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, CIRCA 1878

Drawing upon the conception and designs of William S. Wooton, this "combination" desk illustrates its era's fascination with multi-purpose furniture and penchant for organization. The desk bears the plaque of James A. Moore who, prior to establishing his own company, was the general manager of The Wooton Desk Company in Indianapolis. Filed on January 8, 1878, the patent for the desk offered here illustrates the desk's moveable parts and describes the invention as "a cabinet-desk consisting of two wings, pivoted or hinged to a common shaft, upon which the wings rotate in opening or closing the desk." Four years later, Moore filed another patent for a similar desk and praised the self-sufficient unit as "a Convenient, Practical, Model Insurance Office" (Walters, The King of Desks: Wooton's Patent Secretary (Washington D.C., 1969), pp. 13-4; Cooper, "Evolution of Wooton Patent Desks," Wooton Patent Desks (Indianapolis, 1983), p. 50).