January 24 -- the Henry Ford, part 2

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Cars, and advertising.  I remember when I first started seeing Volkswagen bugs....

1940s poster.  I hardly ever use a flash.  It was plenty light enough in the museum for people to see things, but the camera prefers more light........  There were a few times on the 24th when I should have used the flash.  (Note to self..........)

(Here is a link to a better-quality image of the poster.) 



I'm always interested by the ways that people embellish the items in their lives, in ways that are not about improving the function of those items.

"Gothic cathedral" steam engine.

Love the designs on these powder boxes.

I was at the museum with my oldest friend.  We did a lot of chatting, on many topics, in addition to enjoying and discussing the collection and the exhibits.

One of the things we talked about was curatorial decisions.  In this next display, they chose a reproduction of the poster, which is huge (4'x6, perhaps), and a reproduction of the postcard (which is postcard-sized, but this repro is 8"x12", maybe).

It's always cool to show the original, but in some cases, using repros makes it possible to show several, instead of one (when the originals are large), or makes it possible to actually read the handwriting from a distance (when the originals are small).  Tradeoffs.  Always tradeoffs.

Love the modern aesthetic of this poster.........

A portrait of two old friends, on the side of a very shiny teapot.

Here's one of the things I think I enjoyed seeing the most -- because it was donated by my friend!  She bought this computer when she was working on one of her masters' degrees.  She used it to crunch all the numbers, and write all the papers.

Isn't that excellent?  To have one of your items in a very large and very significant historical museum?  Not just in the collection, but on display?  Very cool indeed.

Next, we had a look at the Dymaxion House.  It was designed by Buckminster Fuller, who was very good at thinking outside the box.

This view shows the living room side of the house.  Lots of windows!

Here we are, looking into the living room.  The design of the house is cool.  Very modern.

The house was built of airplane materials -- aluminum, plexiglass, thin laminated wood, cables.  (One of Fuller's thoughts was that the airplane factories that churned out planes during WWII might turn their attention to producing housing in peacetime....)

A closer look at part of what we see above.  I think I remember a pic from the 50s, of my uncle Joe with two of my cousins, which looks a lot like this pic.....

The house is really tiny.  The bathroom makes me think of an airplane bathroom -- with a tiny tub/shower.  What storage there is is heavily engineered -- shelves that revolve into view, closets with revolving storage for hanging clothes.  (All in all, I think fixed shelves would have allowed more space for storage, if less space for interesting mechanisms....)

Several aspects of the design make me wonder.....  Did anyone who ever washed dishes sign off on this sink?  I bet it holds less than the small sink in our half-bath....  And look how close the burners are to the wall.  I bet that's a fire hazard, in addition to ensuring you could only use the smallest of pans.....  I suppose you could actually wash the tiny pans that fit on these burners, in that itty bitty sink.....

There was no insulation.  I've been in Kansas (where this house was installed) in July, and in January, and ... you need insulation.

Fuller spent a lot of time thinking of ways to make a house work better -- he collected the water that fell on the roof, to use later, for one example.  But as compared to practical, comfortable living space, this is fun to look at.  It might make a lovely cottage to visit in excellent weather, but year 'round?  No.  Only two were ever built. 

An interesting concept.  As I understand it, Buckminster Fuller felt this design was not ready for prime time, and I must concur.



Next, another look at a way life might be lived.  There was a special exhibit on the movie Avatar.  This was not part of our plan to see my friend's favorite things in Henry's collections, but we dodged into this exhibit for a quick walk-through.  It was fun to see the artifacts that exemplified designs to be made into animation.... 

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