Family “heirloom” furniture

I was helping a friend move and they had this dresser. Family lore says it might have come over from Eastern Europe 70-80 years ago. Any information on “Yugoexport” furniture? It’s pretty basic veneer, but those scars tell a family story - the large damaged spot on top is where g’grandma always kept her house plant.

 

I don't think it is any older than the 50s and could be a decade or so newer. Yugoslavia began exporting furniture in quantity in the 60s but not so much to the US until quite a bit later. Your friend's family may have had special contacts or paid to bring over a single piece.

 

Interesting that the label for this Yugoslavian product line is in English. Looks a bit younger than 70-80 years. 1960s perhaps?

 

Yugoslavia made a lot of MCM-inspired furniture for the UK market. If it is in the US now (is it?), it could have been brought over by Brits.
@Ownedbybear can probably tell us more.

 

Yup, Yugoslav furniture came here a fair bit, late fifties and onwards, once we could import again after WW2. Lots of light coloured timbers, good plywood, that sort of thing. I think I've some advertisements in magazines somewhere. There was a particular chair brand which has slipped my mind. It went from inexpensive to mid range.

That does look 50s or 60s.

 

Thanks for all the comments! Family legend says g’grandma brought it over when she emigrated from Czechoslovakia in the 50s. The exact year is lost and each family member has a different memory; it could have been early 60s. I wish the manufacture date was legible.

 

Since the tag is entirely in English, I have a hunch she bought it right after arriving.

 

1953 your earliest date.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugoexport

Debora

 

The ones exported here had English labels and tags.

 

IMO, it indeed could have been bought in Czechoslovakia (then part of the Eastern Soviet block) and then moved to USA, it could have been produced for export to UK and redirected towards another country, for various reasons. We had Yugoslavian goods in BG although in limited quantities and available only for people with strong connections with salespersons. In the environment of total deficit that was the only way to buy stuff.
It has a very familiar "socialist" look. My mother in law used to have a very similar (I would say, identical) chest (or dresser???) but I don't know if it was Yugoslavian, never looked at the back. They threw it away some time ago and bought a new, wooden one. I think it was chipboard with veneer.

 

In the socialist countries there were different labels depending if it was meant for export to the West (in English) or for the Comecon market (in Russian). Yugoslavia was not part of Comecon but still it was a socialist country although with some peculiarities not present in the rest of the block.