Any thoughts on this old beauty?

I've included a few more pics above/below (not sure where this shows up on your screen). I agree with the file/desk, but its not pine. It appears to be all solid mahogany construction...the drawers sides I am unsure of the species at this point.

 

I will defer to your ability to tell the wood on this. The secondary woods are definitely pine. It looks like it probably has castors or spindle type legs attached so not cut down. Neat piece. I could see this used in an office with an adding machine on top and records in the drawers with a writing surface for convenience. Just conjecture, as I could see this being useful many ways. As above, I do think 19th century. Maybe circa 1880.

 

Could be...the top is definitely a good working surface height. I have a message out to a furniture expert here in NJ. Looking forward to seeing what they say.
Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to refurbishing this piece and using it!

 

Now my wheels are turning a bit. Perhaps it's a cash register stand, or even a shipping clerk file cabinet. Sky's the limit I suppose! Thank you all for the suggestions so far!

 

Nothing add here, except to say that this was a great find! It's amazing to me what people will throw in the trash.

 

A desk of this style is something probably used very occasionally.

That's inferred by its small (and folding) writing surface and limited storage. I speculate that it was used by someone who needed a desk, but not often, and that it was in a place where large furniture would've been awkward or impossible to fit, perhaps on a ship or near the docks or in a warehouse/factory or something like that.

That being the case, I imagine that this is actually an antique paymaster's desk.

You park it at the end of the gangway when a ship docks. The paymaster takes a seat and pays off the back wages of all the crew of the ship as they come off the boat, and then when all's said and done, it's folded up and wheeled or carried away again, until it's needed for the next ship.

 

Thank you everyone for the input. I reached out to an antiques professional in NJ (where I live) and he was very quick to label it a "butlers desk". He dated the piece early to mid "federal period". So late 18th or early 19th century. He did say the majority were solid mahogany with poplar and/or pine drawer sides, which this definitely is/has. He agreed that or would need to be completely taken apart, reassembled, and refinished. He gave me a few suggestions on how to go about doing so and even making a new oil cloth writing surface, which is a neat & fairly simple process. He said it was definitely repairable and that he would put a value of $500- $700 on it once restored. I'm going to get started on it shortly so I will post pictures as I go along. Thanks again for all the input and I look forward to any additional thoughts on the piece. Check out some of my other pieces if you have time too. I'll be working on them soon as well.

 

If you have a chance check out the dresser I just fixed up. Another garbage find!

 

While the fold out drawer top is typical of a butler's desk, the small size keeps me from labeling it as such. As for Federal period, the lack of details on this make it hard to label it anything. I would expect dovetails on a Federal period piece. If that drawer handle on the bottom drawer is original, this would be renaissance revival at the earliest. There are a lot of dealers out there with a lot of opinions about such things. I am also one so take it for what it is worth.

 

This is what I would expect a Federal butler's desk to look like ......

 

Yeah that's what I saw too in my searches. Like you said, everyone has their opinions and I was simply sharing theirs.
Would a child's desk have locks on it and if so would they have a different lock for the drawers than the desk section. This requires 2 separate keys. Also, the drawers are very large. It may not seem so in the pictures but they are stout and don't seem to be fit for a child. Kids were built more hearty back then so there's also that.
I was also under the impression that hand made nails and rabbit joints = older pieces. How long did they continue to use those in furniture?
Thank you again for the feedback.