"After the Rape...", Fake Perrier Advertising by the French Magazine Hara-Kiri, 1970s

From these humble origins, the European bottled water market grew to represent a $39.3 billion segment of the market. Individual European countries often top the list of consumers with 4 of the 10 largest bottled water markets and 13 of the 20 top per capita volume of bottled water consumption. Although some countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands, purchase a high volume of sparkling water which can be categorized separately from still water, the majority of the market share is still comprised of natural water. This begs the question whether bottled water is simply a trend, as in the United States, or a necessity.

Medicine or Water? "Cures Gout, Stomach, Urine, Bladder and Kidney Ailments", Germany Mineral Water Advertising

Beneath the calm shores of European bodies of water, lies a history of industrialization, pollution, and pesticide usage that calls water quality into question. Following scrutiny in the 1960s and 70s, the quality of European tap water became the focus of E.U. and national policies, with countries such as Germany taking the lead in cleaning some of the remnants of industrial and agricultural pollution. However, not all countries have adopted strict guidelines to protect their water sources and many Eastern European countries lack adequate monitoring and compliance mechanisms.

PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is the most commonly used material for water bottles with 82.4% of water bottle packages made from it. Some plus sides of PET is that it can be recycled and reused indefinitely, but the most problematic aspect of bottled water is the disposal of the empty bottle. The materials cycle encompassing the production, use, and disposal of the product is often unaccounted for when considering the environmental impact of products. The American case against bottled water is mainly contingent upon the lack of adequate recycling and fact that most bottled water containers wind up in landfills after use. The case in most European countries is often different, as there is a greater emphasis on recycling than currently in place in the U.S.

Vittel Advertising, 1905, Courtesy of Fab Frog

Does this mean that bottled water is less environmentally harmful in Europe than in the U.S.? Not at all. The fact is that many European countries often have pre-existing recycling infrastructure in place and recycling is more ingrained in the habits of consumers. Additionally, the distance that bottled water has to travel to reach its final destination is unaccounted for in this article, but an important aspect of this issue. Tap water from a reusable container is the most environmentally conscious choice, but as water quality is variable and based on location the best choice is to get information before drinking tap water.

Perrrier Advertising, Courtesy of FFFFOUND

Tap water in a reusable container, when safe and available, is the best choice regardless of where you live. The key is to inform yourself about water quality in the area whether at home or traveling and unsure of the quality of tap water. Usually countries in Western Europe have good quality tap water, but be aware that the quality in Eastern Europe is often lower. If buying bottled water then try to buy as local as possible and find out where to recycle the used bottle. This will ensure the least harmful environmental impact, while giving you the ability to choose the best option for the area.

Further Reading:’

The Water Information System for Europe

European Federation of Bottled Waters

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Water is an everyday part of our lives that we often take for granted, we wash and cook with it without a second thought. Yet, potable water – water that is safe to drink – is a source of regional conflict as several of the world’s most conflict-prone regions, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, are plagued by water shortages and drought – the UN estimates that 35 – 50 percent of urban dwellers in Africa and Asia struggle to access potable water.

BOTTLED WATER

While developing countries struggle with sourcing clean drinking water, in the United States and Europe water has become a sought after commodity and surprisingly lucrative natural resource in the form of bottled water. Marketing has promoted the dissemination of pristine imagery associated with drinking bottled water. Images conjured include landscapes untouched and unspoiled by modernity with flowing glacial streams that companies bottle and present to consumers at a “reasonable” price. Today Americans drink twice the amount of bottled water that they did 10 years ago.

But bottled water is experiencing a backlash, as more people become aware of the health and environmental concerns. Where does the water we buy at the corner store actually come from and is it as “pure” as marketers would have us believe? A recent study conducted by the Environmental Working Group found that only 2 out of 188 bottled water companies disclosed both the source and treatment procedures for their water.

This highlights one of the main differences between tap and bottled water, which is who regulates and tests it. Tap water is monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency, while bottled water comes under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration. The requirements for testing bottled water are relatively lax – water only undergoes testing once per quarter as opposed to tap water, which is checked for quality several times per day.

Some bottled water companies use bottles that are made with a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA), which can leach into the water and has been associated with increased risk of cancer, thyroid disorders, neurological disorders, and other diseases. In 2004, the FDA discovered that there were unusually high levels of bromate, a chemical believed to cause cancer, in Dasani water.

Aside from health issues, there is also the question of energy and waste produced by consuming bottled water. In many cases, bottled water contains embodied energy from production and shipping. Although figures vary based on the location of the water source, millions of gallons of gasoline are used in transporting bottled water.

And what happens when the water bottle is used? In America, there are no deposits for bottled water, and 90% of all water bottles consumed wind up in landfills, with only the remaining 10% being recycled. This leads to a massive amount of garbage and wasted energy.

TAP WATER

Many have chosen to plunge into the world of bottled water because of a preconceived notion that tap water is unsafe or unhealthy to drink. Tap water has gotten a bad rap in the past due to water fluoridation,  the presence of unsafe chemicals such as chlorine, and other contamination scares and conspiracy theories.

City of Toronto Drinking Water Campaign, 2005

A Gallup poll conducted in 2009 shows that pollution of drinking water remains the most pressing environmental concern for a majority of Americans. Drinking water is an incredibly localized concern, because water source and quality is highly variable based on location. A study from the Environmental Working Group revealed that the quality of tap water in several states was contaminated with agricultural pollutants mainly from manure and fertilizer run-off, industrial chemicals from factory discharges and consumer products, and byproducts of water treatment processes that leach from pipes. These statistics are alarming, but again, are highly localized, and the majority of tap water is relatively safe. However, it is important to research the water quality where you live. (See the EPA’s “Water Quality Where You Live” Guide)

FILTRATION

The best solution to the problems associated with both bottled and tap water is a home filtration system. Experts recommend researching the quality of water in your area, then choosing a filtration system. Filters can remove the vast majority of the contaminants present in tap water, and do not have the negative (and costly) side-effects of bottled water. Click here to read the April 2010 Consumer Reports guide to Water Filtration Systems.

Poland Water Bottling Plant

FURTHER READING:

Peter Gleick. Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water, Island Press, 2010.

Terry Tamminen. “Review: Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource”, Grist. January 9, 2001.

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Naugahyde Advertising, 1967 (Read Full Copy at Bottom of Article)

While countless hours and word counts could be amassed in dirtily detailing and decrying the toxic waste generating production practices of the vinyl manufacturing process, the Naugahyde story boasts far more fascinating aspects, namely the advertising coup d’état from the medium’s first and foremost svengali that inadvertently established it as the defining material of mid century kitsch culture.

To this day, the word “Naugahyde,” rather than invoking a still extant company that continues to manufacturer a popular, versatile, widely used, water resistant textile that is rich with history and remains Made in the USA, instead summons up the ultimate imitation and fraudulence, forever ingrained in the popular lexicon as a punch-line signifying ersatz second-rate quality.

U.S. Naugahyde and U.S. Koylon Advertising, 1956

And yet it wasn’t always this way. Named after the town in Connecticut where the Uniroyal Engineered Products that developed it was based, Naugatuck was the epicenter of American rubber production, dating back to 1847 and the birthplace of Keds sneakers and the rubber vulcanization process. The term “Naugahyde” was first used in 1936, much earlier than the mid-century lore would have led one to believe. But the term wasn’t ultimately necessary until then.

Naugahyde Advertising, 1967

Post war America was deeply in love with vinyl coated fabrics. With rampantly expanding industry, the need for flexible, versatile industrial materials and the plastic industry’s willingness and desperation to provide just this, Naugahyde was the innovator in the field; Buckminster Fuller used it to cover chairs in his Dymaxion House, the United Nations used it for their chairs as well.

By the mid 1960s, America was producing 142 million yards per year of vinyl-coated fabrics, but not all of it used was actual Naugahyde. The originators had numerous competitors and lookalikes crowding the market.

Naugahyde Advertising, 1956

To combat their weak brand image, they turned to Madison Avenue advertising guru George Lois, the man responsible for successfully selling the Volkswagen to America. Playing up the cruelty-free, vegetarian-chic elements of Naugahyde, Lois conceived what might be one of the most simple, yet devastatingly effective, advertising campaigns of the 20th century.

The Nauga was, and is, a mythical creature with a toothy grin, narrow set but wide eyes and a skin (s)he sheds once a year, resulting in Naugahyde. Alarmingly cute dolls were made and a complex origin story and mythology was launched in advertisements featuring drawings of “prehistoric” Nauga in their native Sumatra from “30,012 B.C.”, emigrating through Ellis Island and even donating their “hydes” to the War Effort in 1944.

Naugahyde Advertising, 1967

The concept stuck like a sweaty leg to a Naugahyde couch. A Nauga appeared opposite Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, Nauga dolls were made available in showrooms – and the brilliant print advertisements continued. “The Nauga is ugly, but his vinyl hide is beautiful.” By drawing attention to the essential imitation and fakery of the material and essentially celebrating it with a fake narrative wrapped in a knowing, wry, winking humor, Naugahyde was vaulted into the collective consumer consciousness – the ultimate triumph of advertising achieved.

Unfortunately, time has not been so kind to the mid century fetishization of the faux to the level of luxury, and with modern ecological concerns, these materials look even worse. To this day, though, Nauga dolls are collectible items, kitschy reminders from a naively Utopian yesteryear. And the affecting aftertaste of George Lois’ ads lingers heavily over urban folklore with younger generations wondering precisely just where the hyde in Naugahyde comes from. Beware, beware the noble Nauga.

COPY FROM ADVERTISING “THE GREAT IMPOSTOR”:

“That’s him. The one that doesn’t moo. The Nauga. But: His vinyl hide – Naugahyde – can give you the most gratifying feeling known to man: Getting away with something. Naugahyde can look, amazingly, like anything. Cow’s hide? Beautiful. Horsehide? Beautiful. Aligator? Beautiful. (Only your taxidermist will know.) But unlike leather, Naugahyde won’t crack or stain.

If you don’t want it leather-like, you can get Naugahyde that looks like linen. Wool. Silk. Tweed. Brocade. Burlap. Bamboo, for heaven’s sake. It fools all the people all the time. In 500 different colors and textures.

They never guess it’s Naugahyde vinyl fabric. A picture of the imaginary Nauga hangs on every piece of Naugahyde furniture. Look for him when you’re looking for beautiful indestructible furniture, or luggage, handbags and accessories. (If you can’t fine the Nauga, find another store).”

COPY FROM ADVERTISING “INVITE A NAUGA TO YOUR PARTY”:

“Make the Nauga feel welcome. Punch him in the nose the minute he comes through the door. Spill a Bloody Mary on him. Get him with a pie in the face. Smear chocolate on his chest. Kick him around. His vinyl hide is Naugahyde vinyl fabric. It’s indestructible. Any soapy sponge, and Naugahyde comes clean. Same thing when Naugahyde is on furniture. The Nauga’s hide is a great deceiver. (…)”

COPY FROM ADVERTISING “THE INDESTRUCTIBLE NAUGA”:

Sadder but wiser mothers pray for permanent furniture. The Nauga answers those prayers. With the hide off his back. Naugahyde vinyl fabric. Naugahyde is so rough, it breaks a kid’s spirit. So comfortable, it gets overused. So durable, the kids are old before it is. With Naugahyde you can sail past the Jones’s. It can look like the most expensive fabrics. Linen. Tween. Silk. Leather. Wood. Brocade. Burlap! Bamboo! 500 bewildering varieties and every single one is Naugahyde. Look for the imaginary Nauga and find beautiful indestructible furniture. (…)”

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100% Natural Rubber / Goodyear Advertising 1918

Natural rubber is made out of latex, a milky sap, which extracts from the Pará rubber tree. The tree is native only to the Amazons. There are also other trees, like the African Landolphia, that exude latex. The Pará rubber tree is, and has always been, the world’s largest supplier for natural rubber, though the Congo was a significant contributor during King Leopold’s rule.

The French scientist Francois Fresneau (1703–1770) was the first European to undertake serious experiments with rubber in the mid-18th century (he was the first to find a way to conserve latex on its travel to Europe). Fresneau also wrote a paper on rubber’s potential uses.

Rubber Tree, Seeds and Latex Tapping. Drawing by Fresneau, 1751

Soon, the Western World started using rubber in a large variety of products — pencil erasers, air balloon coating, waterproof fabrics and boots, soles, insulation of cables, water hoses (back then, fires were a big thing in larger cities), and even water beds. Industrial production of natural rubber products started in 1803 in France, with a company manufacturing elastic bands. In 1828 the first US rubber company was founded, the Roxbury India Rubber Co.

Another big push for rubber came when the lucky scientist, Charles Goodyear (1800–1860), invented the vulcanization of rubber in 1843. Apparently, he discovered it quite by accident. Vulcanization increases the quality of rubber significantly, giving it more elasticity, durability, and taking away the stickiness and sensitivity toward temperature changes.

Due to vulcanization, the demand for rubber grew quickly. Its price rose so high that for a short time in 1860, it exceeded the price of silver (today silver is about 150 times more expensive than rubber). Western inventors were in love with rubber and quickly found new uses: combs, stamps, cables, bladders for footballs, golf balls, medical gloves and condoms (first produced in 1855). Rubber also enabled the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1858. Gutta Percha, a type of rubber from a Malayan tree, was used to insulate the cable.

Coating of The Transatlantic Cable with Rubber

Demand for rubber suddenly exploded when ten years after the invention of the car (1885), the French company Michelin introduced the first pneumatic car tire. Three years later, in 1898, the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co. was founded in Akron, Ohio.

Karl Benz (Foreground) Sits Proudly on Top of his Invention - The World's First Car

European investors soon understood that Brazil, which dominated the natural rubber market, wasn’t fit to meet the rising demands. Labor scarcity (rubber was harvested in remote and malaria-infected areas) was one reason, another was that weather conditions only allowed for harvest between August and January. The situation was much better in the British and Dutch colonies in Asia, and both countries started large-scale plantations.

For the next decades, the U.S. tried to increase the production in Brazil, to gain independence from the now British- and Dutch-controlled business. But the production efficiency and low price of Asian rubber could not be matched. Today, most of the natural rubber still comes from plantations in Asia, with Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and China as its main producers. They account for 90 percent of the world’s natural rubber production.

SYNTHETIC RUBBER

You may think that today the percentage of natural rubber is only marginal, but it accounts for almost 44 percent. In 2008, that was 9.9 million tons. In comparison, the production of synthetic rubber was 12.8 million tons.

December 1941, Goodrich plant at Akron, Ohio / Image by Shorpy.com

The first commercial synthetic rubber was produced in 1909 by the German company Bayer. But production didn’t take off until the 1940s, with the decline of access to natural rubber during the war in both the US and Germany

The U.S. government enforced a policy to gain independence from the Asian natural rubber market, which had largely been captured by the Japanese. The first U.S. government-owned synthetic rubber plant went into production in 1942, and synthetic rubber went up from 10,000 tons in to 1941, to 830,000 tons in 1945.

After the war, natural rubber returned to the U.S. and Europe. But with the industrial boom of the 1950s, demand was up and synthetic rubber kept its foot in the market. And in 1959, for the first time, the production of synthetic rubber exceeded that of natural rubber.

Today, rubber is traded as a commodity, with daily varying prices. The tire industry is still the biggest customer of both natural and synthetic rubber.

Lehman's Tire Store Offers Oldfield Tires, 1921 / Photo from Shorpy.com

Below is the full five page article from the 1947 issue of the magazine Popular Mechanics. Click on the images for easier reading.

Popular Mechanics Magazine, 1947 (Click on Image to Read Copy)

Annual Rubber Production World Wide / Source: www.bouncing-balls.com & www.rubberstudy.com

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Bakelite Camera by Kodak

The existing “natural” plastics couldn’t do the job. Shellac (which comes from the Asian lac beetle) and Japanese Lacquer (a product of the lacquer tree) were in limited supply, and celluloid, which is made from cellulose and camphor (both found in a variety of plants), was widely available but highly flammable and therefore dangerous to manufacture and use. Natural rubber, which is made from the sap of different plants was too soft and melted when exposed to heat.

Enter, Bakelite. Created by the chemical reaction between phenol and formaldehyde, manufacturers loved it from the beginning. It was thermosetting (stayed in its form even when exposed to heat), hard, and durable. It possessed excellent electric insulation properties and could be manufactured cheaply in practically unlimited quantities.

Bakelite Clock by Telechron

Bakelite quickly became the emblem of modernity.

Bakelite Ad in Popular Science Magazine Dec. 1925

When friends asked Baekeland why he entered the field of synthetic resins, he answered “to make money”. Baekeland knew you could make money with plastic 60 years before Mr. McGuire bestowed this gem of knowledge on Benjamin in the classic scene from “The Graduate” .

Leo Baekeland in Time Magazine 1924

The scientific magazine “The Brass World And Planters Guide” from 1911 wrote excitedly about Baekeland’s new invention, dubbing him one of the “foremost inventors of the age” and declaring that “Bakelite is an entirely new product and there are very few manufacturers who will not find some place where it can be employed to an excellent advantage.”

Bakelite Advertising

The magazine is clearly impressed with Bakelite’s science: “It is strange that two pungent and ill smelling substances should unite to form a material that is transparent and amber-like in color, and entirely devoid of odor and taste. Such is chemical reaction and while remarkable, indicates the possibilities of making substances synthetically”.

Bakelite Shaving Brush by Fuller

Bakelite was widely used until the early ’50s, when it quickly gave way to brightly colored, less brittle, and cheaper to produce plastics like PVC.

Today Bakelite is rarely used in consumer products. However, it is still sometimes used  in small precision-shaped components, such as molded disc brake cylinders, saucepan handles, electrical plugs, switches, and parts for electrical irons.

Bakelite Silverware

You can still find a lot of products made out of Bakelite in antique stores.

If you’re unsure if it’s Bakelite that you’re holding in your hand, there are several ways to find out. Bakelite has a clunky sound and a more ‘worthy’ feel to it than other plastics. Bakelite also also has a more ‘natural’ color than modern plastics.

Rub your fingers over Bakelite or poke it with a hot needle. If you detect a chemical odor akin to the smell of burned human hair (which is formaldehyde), it’s Bakelite.

Bakelite Billard Balls

Advertising for Bakelite

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Braun Micron (5410), 1976

My first electric shaver was an old one my father didn’t use anymore – a Braun Micron from the ’70s. It’s made out of plastic and aluminum. In some old products, plastic has the ability to look good. Having come to a full understanding of plastic’s negative environmental impact and the widespread use of low quality plastics today, products made of this ubiquitous material are usually a visual and psychological turn-off for me.

Max Braun introduced his first model of electric shavers, the S50, in 1951. He founded Braun in 1921, but true success arrived when the S50 came out. Previously, the company had thrived by manufacturing radios and record players, until the factory was destroyed during WWII. Production resumed again in 1947 after the war had ended and the factory had been rebuilt.

Braun Standard S50 (L80), 1951 / photos by marratime @ Picasa

The company’s excellent reputation for design and quality is mainly due to Dieter Rams. He joined the company in 1956 as one of 16 designers and started overseeing product design in 1961. He kept this position for an incredible 34 years. Rams, who also began designing furniture 1957 – is still an active designer and design consultant today.

Under Rams guidance, the classic Braun shavers appeared on the market. The Sixtant was a thick and solid little piece of machinery whose operating sound would make you believe that inside, a small locomotive was powering the thing. There is an air of myth around the model, as most of them still function perfectly today. And the two parts that require repeated exchange are still widely available – the block of blades and the thin metal foil that wraps around it.

Braun Sixtant Special SM2 (5220), 1963

Braun Sixtant SM3 (5310), 1962

Rams’s credo is “less, but better”. In an interview with Design Boom he is asked to describe his style: “In Japanese they say ‘wabi sabi’. Together these two concepts mean ‘tranquility, simplicity, balance’, but also ‘liveliness’. This is a point of reference for me… I have always been interested in mixing materials, in my earliest furniture designs. I mixed wood with plastic or aluminum”.

Braun Sixtant S (5330), 1968

About whether form follows function, Rams says “yes, form has to come after function, I can’t conceive of it in any other way. There are certainly psychological functions as well, it is a matter of balancing the aesthetic content with regard to use.” As other designers of influence, he names Jasper Morisson and George Nelson.

After Rams left Braun, the design of their products went downhill. Their current product line is a disaster in my mind. It probably didn’t help much in terms of design and quality when the company was swallowed by Procter and Gamble.

Unless you still have an old Braun, a wet shave seems the only solution.

Braun Cosmetic Shaver (5650), 1971 / photos by midcenturydesign @ flickr

Lady Braun Elegance (5660), 1979

Braun Cosmetic Shaver (5650), 1971

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