odd desk question

[Andre Skanes]

Hello, This is my first time posting on this forum, I hope someone can help me. I recently saved a solid maple desk from the scrap heap. When I looked at the top, I found a sort of plywood patch, under which there seemed to be this "relieved" section. I seem to remember seeing something like this in pictures but I can't find anything on the internet (maybe because I don't know how to describe this to Google). Originally I was just going to plunk a new top on it, but if the relieved section is (or might be) original, I may keep it, as I prefer to keep the character of a piece when I refinish it. If anybody could shed some light on this, I would be very grateful. I have attached a picture of the desk to help visualize it.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

[Darryl Hazen]

Andre, I may be mistaken but I think this was a desk made for secretaries when they used the old style typewriters. The step down is to bring the typewriter keys down to a more comfortable level. Nowadays they say it was ergonomically designed.:)

[mark page]

Yep, looks like a desk designed for an old Royal or Underwood typewriter. Although I'm not reflecting upon my age or nothing like that....

[Jim Becker]

And with that design, it's very nice for keyboarding with a flat-screen monitor behind the keyboard...keyboard hight is critical to avoid wrist problems.

[Ted Jay]

Yep, looks like a desk designed for an old Royal or Underwood typewriter. Although I'm not reflecting upon my age or nothing like that....

Oh yes you are!!!!

I can't answer how I knew that..... DOH!:eek: