| This paper explains how streamlined machine forms became the accepted design idioms for a wide range of kitchen appliances in the 1930s.; Streamlining represents far more than merely a design trend in a series of changing styles: it demonstrates the public's optimistic view of new technologies and is a decisive break with the historical styles it replaces. It fit into domestic reform trends underway since before the turn of the century. Streamlining's popularity stemmed from its ability to mediate between conflicting ideals during the late 1920s and early 1930s. In the kitchen, it bridged the gap between the home and the workplace at a time when the nature of housekeeping, the conception of the home, and the role of women was changing. The streamlined style became an accepted style that unified two distinct appliance design traditions: utilitarian tool and decorative furniture. Through the promise of a better tomorrow, streamlining helped ease the tension caused by increasing mechanization and made the new machine world seem less forbidding. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)... |
