"Streamlining America," an Exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan

Abstract

America, running from September 1986 through December 1988, is the second major thematic exhibit produced by the Henry Ford Museum in recent years.' exhibit attempts to explain and interpret the development of the idea of streamlining and its influence on American consumerism from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. Streamlining began as an engineering concept developed to reduce resistance to the flow of air or water to improve the speed and efficiency of trains, ships, airplanes, airships, and automobiles. In the mid-1930s, industrial designers and manufacturers turned to streamlining as a means of selling consumer goods in a depressed market. quickly became synonymous with modern and efficient. This design style could be seen in a multitude of consumer products by the late 1930s and its influence remained strong well into the 1950s. (See figs. 1-3.) Ford Museum's exhibit occupies 6,400 square feet of space on the vast back floor but is enclosed in such a way as to create, in effect, a small museum within a very large museum. With few exceptions, the hundreds of artifacts come from the museum's own vast holdings. exhibit is divided into four distinct areas, each with a major theme. first, The Streamlined Dream, introduces the concept of streamlining and is the weakest segment. Outside the entrance, a 1937 LaSalle draws visitors from other areas of the museum. Unfortunately, the main introductory label is partially hidden behind the car and the print is too small for easy reading. first display in the exhibit proper is a lighted glass case with two sets of graphic materials, mainly posters, one illustrating the roots of streamlining found in transportation equipment and the other arguing that the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago