You can learn a lot about a culture from things like this. The makers didn't intend to make a contribution to the historical record. They just wanted to sell desks. But the book gives you the hues of the era, the styles, the expectations, the hopes and dreams, the aspirations and dreams of a nation yearning to -

Sorry, got carried away. It's a desk catalog, and little more. Right? It's not as if it's a portal to a bygone age. It's not as if you can populate the pages with people in period garb, imagine the smell of cigarettes and variety-store perfume, hear the ding of the elevator down the hall, picture a man staring at some papers and dreading the drive home. It's winter and it takes forever for the car to warm up. Maybe he'll stay late again.