What is the purpose of the hole in this drawer?

Question

Our 1953 built house has a built-in cabinet and shelving unit in the living room. One of the drawers was made without sides and has an unusually shaped hole in the bottom (to the point where there is essentially no bottom). The cabinet beneath this drawer has a power outlet that has been there long enough to be a two-prong polarized outlet. The shape of the hole is such that it was pretty clearly intentional, and appears to be shaped to mount something. Any idea what the purpose of this drawer is?

A reel to reel? Or older cassette deck? Is there a projector screen space around or marks on the ceiling where it may have dropped down? — Solar Mike, Oct 28 '21 at 17:33
Some kind of machine. Sewing machine. Adding machine. Audio something. Polygraph. Ticker Tape printer. Shredder. Something professionally related ... medical, scientific, etc. If you know who owned the desk that might narrow it down a bit. — jay613, Oct 28 '21 at 17:51
It's built in to the wall, and is more of a cabinet than a desk, there's no leg cutout and the compartments and drawers run across the full length. The previous owners fairly clearly used it as an entertainment system, as there is an outlet above the top surface as well as holes in the back for passing wires between the cabinet with an outlet and the top surface, and the internet comes in through the floor of the closet behind the cabinet. That said, it's hard to tell how much of that is modifications, as the area above the cabinet had at least a few more shelves than it currently does. — jgd, Oct 28 '21 at 18:10
Whatever it is for, it's something that doesn't have to be pulled all the way out to be useful, as the pictures are taken with it all the way out. — jgd, Oct 28 '21 at 18:20
Does this house have any evidence of a home intercom system? — Turbo, Oct 28 '21 at 20:10
My hunch: simply to confuse the next owner (and coincidentally a bunch of DIYers on the internet, although probably not intentional). Is there clearance between the bottom of the drawer and the top of the door below it? Could something have been hanging through it? — Daniël van den Berg, Oct 29 '21 at 22:30
Definitely inclined to agree with some record or reel-to-reel player, with the cut-out to lower the clearance height. OP says house is from 1953 and the cabinet is "built-in", but the roller rails seem to be of newer design. Is it consistent w/other hardware? Is the plywood, nails, finiah, etc. also consistent? Not that it really helpa identify a purpose... — Ian W, Oct 30 '21 at 03:54
@IanW thank you for putting that problem to words. The rails were bothering me and I didn't realize why. 1950s solution on 1980s mounting. — jay613, Oct 30 '21 at 12:08
How much space is below the drawer's "bottom" panel? It reminds me of a cutlery tray. — Criggie, Oct 30 '21 at 12:36
It has a couple of inches below the panel, and evidence that while there have never been sides to the drawer, the bottom is not the first one. At this point I think it's always held a record player or something similar, but this is the second iteration, perhaps for a replacement player requiring a different shape on the cutout. — jgd, Nov 01 '21 at 12:18

manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact · Answer 1 · 2021-10-28T18:28:21.577

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My hunch is that it was a custom-made cabinet for audio equipment. The drawer might be for a record player or other equipment only needed some of the time - pull it out, load a record, play it, and close the drawer when you're done.

edited Oct 28 '21 at 18:28

answered Oct 28 '21 at 17:34

manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact

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Goes with my hunch then … – Solar Mike Oct 28 '21 at 17:44
That's been my initial thoughts as well. Given just how specific the shape is, I was hoping to find out it was for some specific piece of relatively common equipment for the time, but that's probably asking a bit much. – jgd Oct 28 '21 at 18:18
eh.... you wouldn't really close a drawer with a record spinning on a player. Unless, of course, you were into destroying your records. – FreeMan Oct 28 '21 at 18:18
@FreeMan I guess I'm thinking more likely flipping down a big solid plastic cover - but I guess that's a bit different because you can still see what is going on. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Oct 28 '21 at 18:21
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Moving a spinning hard drive isn't recommended, but they have sensors in them that will automatically park the heads if there's enough movement to possibly cause a head crash. Moving a record player with a spinning disk didn't come with such clever protections. I had record players with a translucent plastic cover you could close over the disk, but that's about as much movement as you'd want while it was spinning. – FreeMan Oct 28 '21 at 18:25
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The oddly-shaped hole (for the record changer mechanism), combined with around-the-periphery small holed (for the springy suspension posts that hold the mechanism) support this answer. Upvoted. – DavidRecallsMonica Oct 28 '21 at 19:09
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@DavidSupportsMonica I was thinking along those lines but it seems odd. Holes for suspension mounting with a cutout suggest avoiding resonance. But if you were avoiding resonance you would not put it inside a big wooden cabinet on cantilevered slideouts. Or you'd have a big slab of stone on top of it making all the woodcraft redundant. It really looks like it's for a turntable but it doesn't add up. – jay613 Oct 28 '21 at 19:29
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@jay613 - Most likely the person who designed the anti-resonant features was not the same person who designed and built the cabinet. In fact, the drawer bottom might have been taken out of something else, and custom fit into a sliding drawer in this cabinet. – Mark Oct 28 '21 at 22:21
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The systems I remember looking like this came from the mid-50s. I imagine the engineering applied was more basic than current knowledge. The odd shape of the cutout was to provide room for the motor and other bits which hung down several inches below the turntable and visible top. – DavidRecallsMonica Oct 28 '21 at 22:33
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I'd say it was likely for a record player like [this one](https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=127901.0). It was designed as a wall-mounted unit and the turntable flipped down like a Murphy bed. The mechanics were already installed in a drawer-like box, so transplanting it into an actual drawer would simply mean creating the right cutout. The flip-down design meant it had a low enough profile to fit in the drawer. – bta Oct 29 '21 at 02:15
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I've seen similar units before. Record-player cabinet, no doubt. I bet one of the cupboards to the side of the drawer held a speaker at some point (these things were often mono with just a single speaker). You also might be able to find mount-points or screw-holes inside of one the cupboards that once held a rack to store records. These are coming back in fashion in Mid-Century Modern design interiors. – Tonny Oct 29 '21 at 09:07
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@FreeMan Record players also don't spin at 7200 rpm. – user253751 Oct 29 '21 at 13:38
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I'm strongly leaning toward this. Assuming a suspension mount, I would assume it would be for minimizing vibration and skipping rather than resonance. Also, there is a similarly sized backless void where you would expect the matching drawer on the other side of the cabinet. We thought it had been a removed drawer for storing media players when it was converted to hold a TV, as the interior is unfinished, but I don't recall whether there are screw holes for missing drawer slides. I could see that being the location of the original speaker. – jgd Oct 29 '21 at 14:19
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It actually wouldn't have to be a particularly small record player. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the drawer is probably 8 inches deep. We currently have a 6 inch tall stereo on the other side, and there are a few inches to spare. Looking at a few pictures of record player drawers from the period, it's well within the same range. – jgd Oct 29 '21 at 14:28

Ian W · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-31T00:27:30.697

I am certain it originally held some 1950s record player (less likely, a reel-to-reel player), with the cut-out to lower the clearance height. Below are pictures of the more typical cabinet with the flip-top lid to access the equipment, but also an example of a drawer mounted unit with a similar oddball cut-out. Other styles also included a slide-out drawer behind a standard cabinet door.

OP says house is from 1953 and the cabinet is "built-in", but the roller rails seem to be of newer design. That suggest perhaps a repair or modified for some other purpose, though the cut-out remains consistent w/1950's style.

A picture of the complete cabinet and an interior examination for evidence of speaker mounts, wiring, cable holes, would confirm purpose and probably reveal a make / model tag.

Drawer unit - Images from: https://www.ebay.com/itm/184379687091

Disassembly or overhead unit - Image from: https://bunnyyeagerproductions.wordpress.com/vintage-record-players/

To those who suggested a modification to hold a dot matrix bottom feed printer,everyone would just route a single slot to accommodate the paper. The hard drive suggestion is just plain wrong.

It's definitely a custom built-in unit, or at least extremely heavily modified, as the cabinet doesn't have separate sides and back from the alcove in the wall. I'm also pretty sure that it has always had something similar inside, as the drawer faces on the drawers with boxes have been routed out to accommodate the butt joints for the drawer sides, but this drawer face hasn't. That said, you are probably right about the specific platform being a later addition. On closer examination, the drawer face has nail holes and finish marks that indicate there was previously something else attached. — jgd, Nov 01 '21 at 12:15
I've switched this to the new accepted answer due to the additional details. — jgd, Nov 01 '21 at 12:20

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 28 '21 at 18:30

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I'm going to move my comment to an answer...

I'd say it was for an old dot-matrix printer that used fan-fold paper. The box of paper would sit in behind the door below and was fed up through the hole in the drawer, through the printer, then it would restack... somewhere.

Usually the out-feed was to a wire tray or bin behind the printer. Is there, perchance, a slot in one of the vertical sides of the drawer where the output could have gone? Perhaps, in all their cleverness, they designed something to reroute the paper to stack above the printer so it all stayed within the single cabinet stack.

NB: since dot matrix printers were rather loud, keeping it within a cabinet would help reduce the noise. I have used line-printers (like a dot-matrix, but the print head is the full width of the paper, printing the whole line at a time instead of a character at a time) that were loud when their foam-lined cases were closed and nearly deafening when they were opened.

answered Oct 28 '21 at 18:30

FreeMan

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Interesting idea. Except for one part: *has a power outlet that has been there long enough to be a two-prong polarized outlet* If I had done such a thing in the 70s or 80s, I would have put in a grounded receptacle - why go to all that trouble and then use a 3-2 adapter on an (at the time) expensive printer? – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Oct 28 '21 at 18:46
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_racks brain trying to remember if all printers had 3-prong grounded plugs... fails miserably_ – FreeMan Oct 28 '21 at 18:51
I don't know that the hole is wide enough for letter-sized paper, particularly the type with sprocket holes. Also, most of the dot-matrix printers I've personally seen feed from the back, not the bottom, and the small holes on all four edges at least implies that whatever was in there took up the whole drawer. As far as where the paper could go, the only place it could would be back down into the lower cabinet, as while the drawer has no sides of its own, the cabinet box walls are solid except for the (potential) cable hole in back. I'd have to look closer to see if there was space for this. – jgd Oct 28 '21 at 18:55
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Plenty of printers had bottom feed. Especially the big fast line printers, but plenty of smaller dot-matrix printers too - straight paper path = fewer jams. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Oct 28 '21 at 18:59
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the odd shaped cutout and the four holes suggest something more specific than a dot matrix printer. If there were a simple slot for paper to pass through I'd say this was the most likely answer. – jay613 Oct 28 '21 at 19:22
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... a dot-matirx printer? With respect, seriously ? What would align the holes; certainly not the feet? Why the bizarre cut-out shape? Anyone cutting a shelf for a dot matrix printer would router a single straight cut for the paper to feed through and that's it. Perhaps a notch at the back for the power cord. Way too intricate for that. – Ian W Oct 29 '21 at 04:45
I am with Ian W. Given the age this pre-dates relatively small printers. Printers of the time were a lot bigger and usually NOT to be found in homes. And the shape of the cut-out makes no sense whatsoever. – Tonny Oct 29 '21 at 09:11
TBH, @IanW, I don't see how the oddly shaped cut out would be applicable to _any_ sort of equipment that would fit on an otherwise flat surface. And, if the equipment needed a cutout to allow part of it to project below the surface on which its feet sat, having it on a drawer that would allow those parts to hang low but then hit the stile between drawer and door would be less than ideal. What's _your_ best guess? – FreeMan Oct 29 '21 at 15:33
@FreeMan: They did not. We don't like cross-grounds. They cause problems. – Joshua Oct 29 '21 at 21:27
@Freeman, [Same idea, different shape](https://www.myrepurposedlife.com/guest-postlifey-as-diy-wifey-vintage) – Ian W Oct 30 '21 at 08:58

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 30 '21 at 05:30

In my house, there is a secret drawer fitted which has another 2 dummy drawer-face thingy-s, side-by-side -- one is stationery, and can be unlocked -- other one does nothing, it makes the unlock-able one unmovable.

If you move the drawer face which does nothing to the side, you can unlock the other, then you remove the unlocked one.

Now here's the part where the hole comes to play, the secret drawer (not a drawer face) is on a holder which has one hole -- you obtain the drawer by pulling from the hole -- here the previous owner might have used 4 holes, for more accessibility.

Regarding the power outlet -- it would've be a coincidence.

without a picture or 6 it's almost impossible to follow this description — FreeMan, Oct 30 '21 at 12:21

What is the purpose of the hole in this drawer?

4 Answers4