What is a good way to nourish/rejuvenate the dry wood in old windows?

Question

We live in a house build in the 1950's. The windows are terrific but the wood is very dry in places. We'd like to treat the wood and then paint. If you've had experience with this, will you share some hints? Thanks.

Answer 1

Paint the bare wood with linseed oil.  

Answer 2

Is the wood painted now?  After 50 years, I would think so but you didn't specify.  

It's very tedious, but you should strip off all the old paint, right down to the bare wood, then prime and seal with Bin1-2-3 by Zinsser.

When you say dry... do you mean rotted?  If the wood comes apart when you tug at it, it's rotted, not just dry, and the rot comes from moisture, not dryness.

Look at houses in western ghost towns,  Dry as a desert, but no rot.

If there are holes or chips, you can putty them with Minwax wood filler.  Replace any pieces that are beyond repair.

The more and better prep work you do (which is the hard and un-rewarding part) the better it will look and the longer it will last.