I’m getting the feeling that for many household products, aluminum was the standard before plastic had it’s big breakthrough. These aluminum cups were popular in the 1940s and ’50s in the same settings where today plastic is the number one material of choice: barbecues, parties and picnics.
Bascal Aluminum Tumbler, 1950s
I was very excited when I found this 1950s aluminum ice cube tray. I couldn’t help but imagine a wealthy Palm Springs divorcee lounging poolside, brightly colored fingernails on her sun-leathered hands, levering ice cubes for a Tom Collins. The best thing about using aluminum is that it makes ice much faster. Plastic and rubber trays are quite inadequate, as they act as insulators between the freezing cold and the water.
1950s Aluminum Ice Cube Tray with Lever
In a time when it was unthinkable for a man to leave the house without his hat, it was just as unthinkable to leave without a pocket knife. Small, lightweight and high quality pocket knives were also called gentlemen’s knives and fit perfectly in the pocket of a suit, trousers or even a dress shirt.
Landers, Frary & Clark, New Britain, Connecticut
Sometimes, we as consumers don’t necessarily have access to everything quality and well-made. Throughout history, the military has provided a fine example of an institution that reserves the right to some superior products for themselves. The dependence of a person’s life on a functioning buckle or zipper or the endurance of a material under extreme conditions, draws an attention to detail that consumers often don’t get the luxury to experience. Industry is another good example.
Fresh powder snow doesn’t just look beautiful, it also swallows noise, making everything impossibly silent. But walking through deep snow is so strenuous that it’s nearly impossible to enjoy this simple pleasure - unless you strap on a pair of snowshoes. A recent article on the excellent 10engines blog sparked my interest to read more about the history of wooden snowshoes.
Vintage Wooden Snowshoe with some Steel Wire Repairs
Finding good images on the Internet is hard, so I was happy when I saw these photos of the Telefunken Match transistor radio in the archive on the Delft University of Technology website. When transistor radios first came out in the mid 1950s, they were considered a status symbol. The very first one, the Texas Instruments Regency TR-1, cost more than 350 dollars by today’s standards.
Telefunken Match Transistor Radio 1963
Stainless steel is a material that’s easy to fall in love with. It is sleek, shiny, strong, doesn’t flake or wear-off and has a nice smooth feel to it. And stainless steel’s beauty is long-lasting, which it owes to its most notable characteristic - it doesn’t rust. Stainless steel has brought such vast changes to industries as automotive, aviation, food, machinery and medicine that it can easily be called the metal of the 21st century.
IBM 1440 with Stainless Steel Front Panel 1963
If the main purpose of an ashtray is to hide cigarette butts so you always think it’s your first one, then Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971) did a good job. I like it when form follows function. Jacobsen is mainly known for his chairs, but he also designed about twenty household products for the Danish company Stelton.
Designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1967
You see vintage wooden crates everywhere at flea markets. Many vendors don’t sell them, but use them to carry their wares from the car to the booth, and back to the car. They don’t consider a crate as a nostalgic thing, imbued with some hidden beauty. It’s just a convenient way to schlep things around. From these people you can get the best deals on crates. Although, sometimes, they don’t want to give them up because they know it’s hard to find another box that sturdy.
Golden Glow Beer Crate
The Swiss company Caran d’Ache sells writing utensils for the price you can buy a decent car. Their pens are made out of gold, diamonds, pearls and other fine materials. I’d be too worried running around with a pen like this, or even keeping it in my drawer. Caran d’Ache also makes this straightforward but fine ballpoint pen. It is made out of steel and has a replaceable ink cartridge. I bought it on my last trip to Europe for less then fifteen Euros.
Caran d'Ache Ballpoint Pen
A legend says that sometime in the 16th century a Portuguese man was charged with witchcraft after showing samples of cloth, which have been repelled with rubber. When you think about it, rubber really is pretty magic. It seems like rubber is a modern product, but in indigenous people of the Amazon Rainforest have been using it for as long as for 3500 years. Caoutchouc, it’s original name, was made into balls, figurines, bottles, fabric-coating and other products.
100% Natural Rubber / Goodyear Advertising 1918
Unfortunately I don’t have a horse or a saddle. But the soap that Fiebing developed in 1895 to clean saddles does a great job on other smooth leathers as well, according to the metal can - belts, shoes, luggage, handbags, holsters, sports gear and leather furniture. I have a number of brown Eames chairs that I regularly clean with Fiebing’s. I also use it for my car seats. Fiebing’s Saddle Soap which “cleans and polishes in one easy step” is made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Clean and Polish in One Easy Step
Happy Birthday Dead Presidents