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

Abstract

“STREAMLINING AMERICA,” AN EXHIBIT AT THE HENRY FORD MUSEUM, DEARBORN, MICHIGAN CHARLES K. HYDE “Streamlining America,” running from September 1986 through December 1988, is the second major thematic exhibit produced by the Henry Ford Museum in recent years.1 The exhibit attempts to ex­ plain 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 de­ veloped to reduce resistance to the flow of air or water to improve the speed and efficiency of trains, ships, airplanes, airships, and auto­ mobiles. In the mid-1930s, industrial designers and manufacturers turned to streamlining as a means of selling consumer goods in a de­ pressed market. “Streamlined” quickly became synonymous with “modern” and “efficient.” This design style could be seen in a multi­ tude of consumer products by the late 1930s and its influence re­ mained strong well into the 1950s. (See figs. 1—3.) The 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 ef­ fect, a small museum within a very large museum. With few excep­ tions, the hundreds of artifacts come from the museum’s own vast holdings. The exhibit is divided into four distinct areas, each with a major theme. The first, “The Streamlined Dream,” introduces the concept of streamlining and is the weakest segment. Outside the en­ trance, a 1937 LaSalle draws visitors from other areas of the museum. Unfortunately, the main introductory label is partially hid­ den behind the car and the print is too small for easy reading. The 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 ar­ guing that the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago Dr. Hyde is associate professor of history at Wayne State University. His interests in elude industrial archaeology and the history of the American automobile industry. ‘For a review of the first major thematic exhibit, see Charles Haines, “The Mak­ ing of Victorian America: Henry Ford Museum’s ‘Mass-produced Elegance,’ ” Technol­ ogy and Culture 25 (October 1984): 832-38.© 1988 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/88/2901 -0004$01.00 125 J Figs. 1-3.—Streamlining as a design style was evident from the 1930s into the 1950s, as seen in this ca. 1930 Electrochef range, 1941 John Deere Model B tractor, and 1948-patented Bowden Spacelander bicycle. (From the col­ lections of Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum.) “Streamlining America,” at the Henry Ford Museum 127 marked the first widespread public enthusiasm for the streamlined look. The display case is cluttered with too many graphics, many not clearly linked to streamlining. The next artifact in this area is the ceramic “Jazz Bowl” produced by Viktor Schreckengost in 1931. The label explains that it is there be­ cause it “shows exuberant images of the Jazz Age,” a rationale I did not find terribly relevant. Finally, there is an alcove with a few seats and a TV monitor continuously showing a four-minute video summa­ rizing the development and diffusion of streamlining. This piece, produced by the museum staff, is the best general introduction to the entire exhibit but is situated so poorly that few visitors took the time to watch it. Beginning with the second area, “Designing the Dream,” the ex­ hibit is top-notch in most respects. This area deals with the emer­ gence of industrial design as a distinct field and its application to mass-produced items. After a series of examples of innovations in product styling in the early 1930s, the focus shifts to the “Big Four” of early industrial design, Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, Raymond Loewy, and Walter Dorwin Teague. Their careers are nicely summarized and illustrated with examples of their work. A sep­ arate segment is devoted to the designer/craftsmen whose work ex­ tended into the 1950s, including Russel Wright, Eero Saarinen, and Charles Eames. The “Designing the Dream...