WASHINGTON, DC—The Smithsonian is exhibiting classic consumer products that helped shape everyday life in the 20th century. The objects are the same products the U.S. Postal Service selected and photographed for its recent stamp series honoring important and influential American industrial designers.
The “Pioneers of American Industrial Design” stamps were issued June 29, 2011, and showcase 12 designers and the groundbreaking products they created.
A black Bell dial telephone by Henry Dreyfuss, colorful 1936 Fiesta ware pitchers by Frederick Hurton Rhead, Greta von Nessen’s 1951 “Anywhere” lamp, and the 1934 “Baby Brownie” Kodak camera by Walter Dorwin Teague, are among the products on display and featured on the sheet of forever stamps.
The exhibit is on view from Nov. 15, 2011 to April 29, 2012.
All Photos by Arts Observer
Above, from left, “Selectric” typewriter by Eliot Noyes introduced by IBM in 1961 features first stationary cartridge; “Baby Brownie” Kodak camera; Norman Bel Geddes’s “Patriot” radio for Emerson Radio and Phonograph Corp. Top of page, 1934 “Baby Brownie” Kodak camera by Walter Dorwin Teague, known as the “dean of industrial design.”
Eight objects are on exhibit at the Smithsonian Castle in Schermer Hall. From left, IBM “Selectric” typewriter; Kodak “Baby Brownie” camera; Emerson “Patriot” radio; and Greta von Nessen 1951 “Anywhere” lamp (aluminum and enamed metal), made in a variety of colors for use on a table, mounted on a wall or suspended from the ceiling.
Henry Dreyfuss set the standard for U.S. telephones with his design for the Model 302 Bell phone.
From left, 1951 “Highlight/Pinch” flatware designed by Russel Wright; Frederick Hurten Rhead colored glaze Fiesta ware pitchers introduced by The Homer Laughlin China Company in 1936.