Date Stamping a Vintage Block

How Old is Your Vintage Block?

A popular find at antique stores and estate sales, many of the old butcher blocks, similar to that of our Monarch Block series, have been around since the early 1900s. Full of character, and timeless in their functionality, these old blocks often do have an age or date of manufacture.

To tell the age of an old butcher block, look on the bottom of the block itself. If the unit was manufactured by the Wood Welded Companies, there will be a date stamp indicating the month and year the block was manufactured. For example, a date stamp of 10/16 indicates the block was built in October of 1916.

If there is no date stamp, even if the original customer’s name tag is still on it, it probably was not manufactured by the Wood Welded Companies and is impossible for us to tell when the block was manufactured.

If you are restoring a vintage butcher block unit, sand the block lightly and follow it with an application of Emmet’s Elixir It will bring back some of the wood’s original luster. We also offer a limited supply of restoration parts, including turned leg kits.