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October 24

Founding members of CARE International, 27 November 1945

Which 22 organisations including Salvation Army founded CARE International in 1945?

Kind regards Sarcelles (talk) 16:02, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Go to this page in the Yale Library Digital Collections, and download the PDF. On page 9 there is a list of 26 CARE member agencies, though the SA is not listed. The PDF includes Kissinger-related documents dated 1946-47, so the list is likely to be of a similar date. -- Verbarson ^talk_edits 19:21, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I also see that Wallace Campbell wrote The History of Care: A Personal Account in 1990. Unfortunately, the Archive.org copy cannot be borrowed. -- Verbarson ^talk_edits 19:32, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Another book with, unfortunately, only a snippet view: Stanford Cazier (1964). CARE: A Study in Cooperative Voluntary Relief, Volume 1.^[1] --Lambiam 19:28, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

When and where were drawers invented?

Looking at old furniture today, I wondered when drawers were first made. I looked at our article drawer, and disappointingly it has absolutely nothing about their history. Furniture has a "History" section, but the word "drawer" does not occur in that section.

When I went looking outside Wikipedia, it only wanted to tell me about "chests of drawers", and this, for example, tells me that " it was not until the late 17th century that the use of drawers in chests emerged": it is not clear whether it is saying that drawers were a new invention, or already existed in some other kind of furniture.

It occurred to me to look at desks, and I found Bargueño desk, which says that these were first produced in the 15th century (but does not explicitly say that these first ones contained drawers, though typical ones certainly do).

Ancient furniture led me to tansu, several types of which from the Edo period are described with drawers - but that is hardly "ancient".

I'm sure somebody can find better sources that will help pin it down. ColinFine (talk) 21:50, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This source traces proper sliding drawers to mid 17th century chests ("coffers") that open with a hinged lid on top and have a drawer for additional storage beneath. This evolved into a "chest of drawers". Additionally (from what I could find: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.)* the "drawers" in 15th century Bargueño desks are what are considered precursors to proper drawers; being small pull-out storage boxes for papers and small objects. --136.56.165.118 (talk) 02:47, 25 October 2024 (UTC) . . . *P.s: these references might be derived from a common unspecified source.[reply]

EO dates the term to the 1570s.[2] And note that "drawers", as in underwear, dates to about the same time, and for similar reason, a literal use of "draw" as a verb. (Presumably they could keep their drawers in the drawers.) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:21, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

And, of course, drawers could make sketches of their drawers in the drawers. 136.56.165.118 (talk) 05:59, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The OED puts it slightly earlier, with a quotation "bryng hym a litle booke..: which was in a certaine boxe or drawer." from 1565. I didn't think of looking in a dictionary.

This significantly predates what all the sources 136.56 cites - but perhaps it has the meaning that the IP suggests for Bargueño desks ColinFine (talk) 12:59, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In French, according to the source cited in wikt:tiroir, we find "1530 tirouer « petite caisse emboîtée dans un meuble et qui peut se tirer", which is earlier still. Again, if the distinction 136.56 makes is valid, this could mean the earlier sense. ColinFine (talk) 13:04, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@ColinFine: HTH:

In the mid-1600s, a notable change occurred [in the evolution of chests] with the addition of drawers.
— https://www.penderynantiques.co.uk/the-history-of-the-chest-of-drawer/

--CiaPan (talk) 14:58, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

PS. But that, again, tells about adding drawers to chests, which apparently is a moment of application, not an invention. --CiaPan (talk

Here's a Game of Twenty Squares box from the tomb of Tutankhamun, with a drawer to hold the pieces. His tomb also had some caskets, cabinets, whatever you want to call them, with knobs on the front as if for a drawer, but I can't find pictures of how they open so they might just be chests with a hand grip on the front. There are a couple of similar (and probably older) drawered game boxes in the article on senet. Card Zero (talk) 22:47, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Also, from Howard Carter's notes (Tutankhamun's tomb inventory): 585. A wooden chest. of solid make; having many compartments and sliding drawers for knick-knacks. Size 65x33x27 high --136.56.165.118 (talk) 02:17, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think Carter's units are cm (as used further down the page), so that's under 1 foot high. I suppose all his knick-knack boxes were kept on shelves and tables. Card Zero (talk) 03:34, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Pushing it back about another 500 years, I found this cosmetics box. It is not freestanding furniture, which is another matter. This article from Singapore about drawers says "The use of drawers in Western furniture came no later than in China; it might even have been earlier. Foreigners also like to boast that drawers originated in ancient Greece — at least they appeared widely in Gothic-style furniture during the Middle Ages." I don't think any of that's true, apart from the unexpected admission that something wasn't invented in China. This dressoir from before 1500 has drawers: image #18 here shows a closeup of one in the open position. Mind you I see the Louvre is labelling it "1500/1900", perhaps they doubt its authenticity. Card Zero (talk) 02:37, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I find it plausible that the drawer was invented multiple times independently in civilizations once the arts of woodworking and furniture making were sufficiently developed. Almost all early specimens will not have survived the centuries. --Lambiam 19:02, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]