Madsonian Museum of Industrial Design

04/17/2020

Tired of making silly videos to post on the internet with your smartphone? Try taking a trip back in time with this antique Polaroid camera from 1957!

Welcome to episode seven of Dave's Design Discoveries! Director of Museum Outreach Ben Chung will be featured in the next few videos, talking through the stories of more museum artifacts.

04/10/2020

Did you know that in the 1970s, you couldn’t actually own your telephone? In this video of the Western Electric “Sculptura” telephone, Something Phoney explains how only the outer plastic housing of the phone was owned by the customer, while the electronics inside the phone were owned by the phone company. The Sculptura phone was one of the first phones to be sold this way, as part of Western Electric’s “Design Line” telephones focused on aesthetics and fashionability.

Overview/ Demonstration of Sculptura Phone by Western Electric Comment, Like, Subscribe!

04/08/2020

Are you tired of staying home quarantined? Do you miss talking to people who don’t live with you? Then why not converse in style with this 1970s “Sculptura” telephone by Western Electric? Often called the “Donut” or “Handbag” phone due to its unique shape, this Pop Art influenced product was designed by the consultancy of Henry Dreyfuss, one of the most influential American industrial designers and creator of the 1960s’ iconic “Princess” phone. And if you call us at the Madsonian, we’ll answer on one of the Sculptura phone’s descendants (shown below in black)!

03/05/2020

Today we celebrate the work of industrial designers throughout history - those whose creative ideas turned into products and services that make our lives easier and better. Why not commemorate National Industrial Design Day this weekend with a visit to the Madsonian? We're open tomorrow through Sunday!

Hug an Industrial Designer today. Thank them for being an advocate of our planet, people, and business priorities. Everyday these citizen designers juggle physical objects, digital interfaces, and service experiences. SHiFT is an organization with a foundation built on the industrial design community. Let’s all celebrate and thank them for making the world a better place!

01/02/2020

Here's a video of the Star Wars coin bank we featured on Monday in action! Wendy Barnes shows us the full cycle of interactivity in the toy, with lights, sounds, and movement.

1995 ThinkWays Novelty Toy Sound and Motion Coin Bank Star Wars Robot Characters R2D2 and C3PO Plays a small parody of the Theme Song Light and Sound Eyes li...

12/30/2019

As the Star Wars saga ends this month, we at the Madsonian celebrate with an artifact - an interactive R2D2 and C3PO coin bank! When you place a coin in the slot in front of R2's leg and press the button on the left, the Star Wars theme music plays, the droids move, light up, and speak, and R2 rolls forward to push your coin into the bank. Come check it out in a galaxy near you!

11/14/2019

We at the Madsonian choose the artifacts we display with care, using our Five Bars of Design. Here's an example using the pencil sharpener from last week. A good product must be:
1. DESIGNED: This object was clearly intended to fulfill a purpose - sharpening pencils.
2.MANUFACTURABLE: The sharpener has been brought into physical existence, and presumably was sold in mass quantities after being produced.
3. RELIABLE: The sharpener does a phenomenal and consistent job of sharpening pencils with minimal effort, and even catches the scraps to ease cleanup.
4. AFFORDABLE: We're not sure how much this sold for in 1906, but its parts are made of relatively simple shapes in one material, so it's not exactly a luxury item.
5. BEAUTIFUL: Beauty is subjective, but we think the functional and elegant aesthetic of this piece gives it a well-earned spot in the Madsonian collection.

Our Five Bars of Design help us share the designs we think are the most interesting, long lasting, and unique with you!

11/07/2019

School is back in session, and any good student could use a pencil sharpener like this one! The three propeller-like blades slice away at the pencil and turn it to a fresh side as you turn the crank. And it sharpens vertically, so gravity holds it in place. Come see this antique design marvel at the Madsonian today!

6 blade, early 20c. hand sharpener from the U.S. Automatic Pencil Sharpening Co.)

10/10/2019

Here's a modern equivalent of the meat grinder we featured on Sunday. Chef Michal Orlowski shows us the inner workings of the machine, which still has the crank, table clamp, opening at the top, corkscrew inside to move the meat, blade at the end to cut it, and grate to further divide it up. The main design change is the addition of modern materials like plastic for ergonomics and protection of the clamping surface. Talk about a timeless design!

All you need is the edge of a table in your bistro, restaurant or catering space to safely set up the manual meat mincer RCFW ALU1. You can find this product...

10/06/2019

We here at the Madsonian love design that is simple and lasts, and this antique meat grinder is a prime example of an excellent design that's still around today! To use it, you would cut up some meat, drop it in the opening at the top, and turn the crank. The processed meat would emerge from the grate on the side, and all you'd have to to do was have a bowl ready to catch it!

09/26/2019

All these early-mid 1900s rocker toys do is tilt back and forth, but the Disney characters on each one could actually make you more likely to buy them! Seeing the characters you know and love on a product can make you associate the (hopefully positive) attributes of the characters or their brand with the attributes of the product. That's why even today, companies still use popular characters and iconography to help sell the simplest items. Come see this antique marketing marvel at the Madsonian today!

09/19/2019

Fall is on its way, and what better way to welcome it than to look at a fall-themed product design from the Madsonian Museum? Can you guess what it is?

Welcome to episode seven of Dave's Design Discoveries! Director of Museum Outreach Ben Chung will be featured in the next few videos, talking through the stories of more museum artifacts.