On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 19:47:19 GMT, (Jake)
wrote:

Thanks everyone for the replies. It looks to me as if the cabinet
probably had one coat of button polish or similar, and that was it. Or
perhaps it was just waxed.

I'm not sure if it's oak or not. The wood looks a little too yellow
where it is bare, and a little too orangey whee it has been finished.

Unusual grain on the face of one of the drawers: looks like
light-coloured tiger stripes about 5mm at their thickest point, which
interrupt a more uniform fine-grain. Quite a nice feature.

On reconsidering, I think it looks 1940s to 1950s. The back is
actually a piece of hardboard that you can slide out from the bottom.
That looks much the same as modern hardboard. But then, hardboard has
been around for many years, hasn't it? I remember it was around in the
50's.

Jake