Let’s sidestep all the financial and psychological aspects of gold for a moment and just admire it for what it is. A freakishly beautiful material. Although this might seem obvious, it is not as universally accepted as one might think. The Gold Coast natives of Timbuktu believed that their heaping surplus of gold was actually only worth its weight in salt, and traded it accordingly.
32.15 Ounces of .9999 Fine Gold (24k), Today's Value: $ 35,898
I say aluminum, you say (if you’re the rest of the world) aluminium - let’s call the whole thing off! At this point you would have to have your head buried in bauxite (aluminum in its naturally occurring form) to not be aware of the impact aluminum has had on the modern world.
Frozen Fried Shrimp Dinner with Tangy Cocktail Sauce for Extra "Home Style" Touch
Nothing better invokes the post war optimism and better-living-through-chemistry ideology of America than the most genuine of fakes, Naugahyde. A PVC coated vinyl fabric unleashed into the American marketplace as a replacement for leather, it followed in a long line of heavily and effectively marketed, laboratory launched imitations: Formica’s eclipsing of marble, Con-Tact paper’s mimicry and obfuscating of wood…
Naugahyde Advertising, 1967 (Read Full Copy at Bottom of Article)
I was walking on the beach not long ago and came across a sight not entirely uncommon in Southern California - a pile of trash. Scattered amongst this little hill of debris situated along the foamy line where surf meets sand, was: A plastic lighter, an empty Dasani water bottle and a Gillette disposable razor. Further down the beach lay a Bic ballpoint pen. Now, how is it that both Gillette and Bic, who’ve won over consumers with the offering of cheap lighters, razors and pens, keep us convinced that plastic is the material of choice? When did men’s little personal effects become so cheap, so… disposable?
Gilette Safety Razor Catalog, 1909 / Razor Archive
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
Paper has been a key factor in communication and learning and can be traced back to 3000 BC. In those days, Egyptian craftsman cut the stems of the djet or tjufi plant (papyrus in Greek), a tall freshwater reed belonging to a group of plants known in Biblical references as bulrushes. The Egyptians cut the reed into thin strips, softened them in the muddy waters of the Nile, then layered them in right angles. They then pounded the mat into a thin sheet and left it out to dry in the sun. It was clearly a labor-intensive affair, and most likely won the respect of producers and consumers alike; for this reason, it was saved for very important records, fine art, and religious texts.
Image by John Hubbard
Time often functions as a test of a material’s worth, its usefulness in the grand scheme of things. The practicality and lasting relevance of materials like wood, wool, metal reach far back into our history, better equipping humanity for our spritely sprint towards inevitable obsolescence. While as awesome and as taken for granted as many fundamental building blocks for existence are, when taking a closer look at the less thoroughly appreciated, less obvious contenders, little revelations rear their heads, perhaps none more than porcelain.
Cockatoo by Johann Joachim Kändler, Meissen Porcelain, 1734 / Rijksmuseum, Neatherlands
I was recently on a search, looking by the bins near our neighbor’s apartment complex, peeking behind the store around the block, looking for the right one. And then I found her - a flat yet sturdy beauty, about 6 feet tall, pleasantly thick in all the right places, clean around the edges, and in excellent overall shape. I had found the mother of them all, a huge cardboard box, and what a great playhouse it would make for my 2-year old. As I threw the heavy carton into the back of my truck, I imagined what it must have carried, being so strong, and what it would become after I got through with it.
Carboard Container Advertising 1942
Ah, the small squeak of the stopper against glass as you open a bottle of good wine, what could be more pleasing? Perhaps the subtle-spring in your heels as you walk across flooring from recycled wine stoppers? Or the dampened, acoustic softness that seems to seal out the noisy bustle of the world beyond? Yes, cork is a material that does it all, and does it well: it’s natural (derived from an evergreen oak, Quercus suber), beautiful, and regenerates quickly. Best of all, this wonder material is making a comeback.
Book From 1909
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
Perhaps one of the more interesting facets of innovation, despite advances in technology and engineering, is the reliance on successes of yore. Nature’s unflagging way of providing the most effective solution to a design problem continues to amaze.
Canvas Sails / USS R-14 in 1921
Much noise is being made lately about the possible disappearance of the honey bee and the hoopla is certainly for good reason. The bee - as they say, IS busy - an essential in the natural cycle of life, growth and decay - an industrious, multi-tasker whose absence would most certainly be missed. One of the most incredible contributions of the honeybees is that of beeswax.
100% Pure Beeswax
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
Humans started making glass about 5000 years ago, which makes it one of the oldest manufactured materials in the world. However, major scientific breakthroughs in regards to glass didn’t come until the 19th century. In the 1880s, the German scientist Otto Schott (1851 - 1935) invented borosilicate glass, a new, much stronger variety of the material, and started selling it in 1893 under the name Duran. Schott still sells it under this name today. In the United States, borosilicate glass was first manufactured by Corning Glass Works in 1915, and sold under the name Pyrex.
Borosilicate Glass Beaker
Mother Of Pearl
Unlike its flashier progeny, mother of pearl is more than an accessory to a favorite pastel sweater set. As masculine as the grips on Wyatt Earp’s spinning six-shooters, and as feminine as the posy holder dangling from Queen Victoria’s tiniest finger, mother of pearl’s subtle elegance was valued for adornments and accouterments, and lent weight, permanence and beauty to the everyday objects now molded out of disposable plastics.
Gustave Young Engraved Navy Percussion Revolver with Mother of Pearl Handle, 1851
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