Tag Archives: Henry Dreyfuss

George Switzer Micarta Trays for Westinghouse

7 Replies

If you had asked me, before June 23rd, if I knew who George Switzer was I would have replied no. If you had also asked me if I had ever heard of Micarta, I would have said what’s that? In just two days (it’s June 25th as I start to write this), I now know who George Switzer was and what Micarta is. Now you maybe asking, how did I come into such knowledge or perhaps more accurately, why would I care? Well on Sunday June 23rd, Chris and I went to the Golden Nugget Flea Market. Past readers will know that this is a favorite flea market of ours. Anyway, a vendor had on his table a striking orange and black tray with an aluminum frame. In the center of the tray is a stylized sail boat, moon and star of dyed aluminum embedded in a black band. Two strips of anodized aluminum separate the black band from the orange. It easily caught my eye and after Chris negotiated with the seller to bundle the tray with a Manning-Bowman chrome powder box we got both items for a very good price. I would learn how good the deal was a little later that morning.

 

The 1933 Nocturne Tray.

The 1933 Nocturne Micarta tray, designed by George Switzer for Westinghouse. From the author’s collection.

 

In the car on the way home, I Googled “Art Deco black and orange tray with sail boat”.  One of the results was a 1stdibs.com dealer who is selling the tray and described it as being designed by George Switzer for Westinghouse. Now I was able to dig deeper into this tray’s history. I also learned that Switzer designed five other Micarta trays for Westinghouse in 1932. So now I wanted to find out exactly what was Micarta.

 

Micarta

Under pressure and high heat a combination of linen, canvas, paper, fiberglass and other fabrics, creates a laminate that Westinghouse branded as Micarta.

When introduced in the early 1910s, Micarta’s usage was for electrical equipment. An article in Machinery described the new material:

MICARTA – A SUBSTITUTE FOR FIBER, RAWHIDE, HARD RUBBER, ETC.

A remarkable new material to take the place of hard fiber, glass, hard rubber, molded compounds, etc. has been developed by the Westinghouse Electrical and Mfg, Co, East Pittsburg, Pa. The material, which is known as “Micarta” is used for brush holder insulation, gear blanks, conduit for automobile wiring, for arc shields in circuit-breakers.

Micarta is a hard, tan colored material having a mechanical strength about fifty per cent greater than hard fiber. Micarta is not brittle and will not warp, expand or shrink with age or exposure to the weather but takes a high polish, presenting a finished appearance. 

Machinery, August, 1913, Pg. 942

To expand the market for Micarta, Westinghouse developed new uses for Micarta by the late 1920’s. They began manufacturing it in a variety of colors and patterns, such as wood grain or marble, making it perfect for wall panelling.

 

Westinghouse booklet of Micarta from the early 1930's.

Pages 6 & 7 from an early 1930’s Westinghouse booklet showing the many decorative uses of Micarta. Image from the Internet Archive.

 

George Switzer

George Switzer (1900 – 1940). Photo from the New York Times, October 9, 1940.

In 1932, Westinghouse thought Micarta would be a perfect material for decorative trays. They contracted industrial designer George Switzer to design a series of trays for the company. Although mostly forgotten today (he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry), in the 1930’s Switzer was a well known as Gilbert Rohde, Donald Deskey and Henry Dreyfuss.

Born in Plymouth, Indiana on March 6, 1900, Switzer graduated with honors from the University of Illinois. In Chicago, after college, he found employment with the advertising firm Wasey & Co. In two years he left to go work for Young & Rubicam in New York. This led to his designing everything from envelope stickers, messengers’ uniforms and delivery trucks for Kurt H. Volk, Inc., typographers. This work established his name and in 1929 Switzer set out on his own opening his own designing and consulting firm. He produced designs for sixty-five companies encompassing all sorts of things including letter heads, sausage labels and a Roll-Royce car body. In 1937, against 12,000 other entries he won two of the three awards in the “All America Package Competition” with his modernistic package designs for  the Eagle Pencil Company and the Geo. A. Hormel Company.

In 1940, Switzer underwent an operation for mastoiditis. While recuperating at his cousin’s home in Prattsville, New York, he died suddenly in the early morning hours of October 8th at the age of forty. His body is interred at the Oak Hill Cemetery,  Plymouth, Indiana, his hometown.

 

Westinghouse Micarta Trays

Looking for new uses for Micarta, Westinghouse approached Switzer. In 1932 he designed five modernistic, Micarta trays for the company. Retailing for around $5.00, these trays were available in finer stores by the 1932 Christmas season.

 

Westinghouse Micarta logo.

Westinghouse Micarta logo stamped into the back of the 1932 trays. Image from Decaso.com

 

 

 

December, 1932 Harper's Bazaar, Pg. 57.

Christmas 1932 men’s gift suggestions from Harper’s Bazaar. Under the gadgets section is the striped Micarta tray for $5.00 available at Bonwit Tellers. Magazine page from ProQuest.com

 

Walter Rendell Storey in his October 30, 1932, New York Times Sunday Magazine article on interior design had this to say of these new trays:

New trays of diverse and interesting kinds have recently appeared in response to a growing  consciousness of their varied uses and decorative possibilities. Some of the latest ones are combinations of wood and metal; others are synthetic compounds immune to cigarette burns and beverage stains. 

Of the new trays, perhaps the most striking is a series of beverage trays with designs developed in thin sheets of varied-hued aluminum inlaid on a glossy black ground. The motifs have been developed in a contemporary manner; there is one entitled “Dynamic,” which the designer, George Switzer, has interpreted by a stylized airplane. The traditional theme, “Nocturne,” has a sail boat beneath a yellow crescent moon with the deep-green water lighted by a streak of vermilion. For the period room the designer has created a most effective arrangement of empire motifs, namely, the arrow, star and laurel wreath of victory. These trays are stamped out from under enormous pressure from a material originally developed for insulating electric light switches. 

New York Times, Sunday Magazine, October 30, 1932, Pgs. 12 & 15.

 

In 1933 Switzer modified the Nocturne tray. A frame of aluminum, with handles, encompassed bands of orange and black Micarta. A slight rearrangement of the moon and star was another difference on this tray. For the 1933 Christmas season Westinghouse offered this tray as a special promotional item. When buying another Westinghouse product at full price, the Nocturne could be yours for just one dollar ($20.00 in 2019).

 

Westinghouse 1933 Christmas promotion.

Westinghouse 1933 Christmas advertisement, featuring the $1.00 Nocturne tray promotion. Ad from the New York Herald-Tribune, December 10, 1933, Pg. SM15

 

The above ad mentions the “Stunning $3.95 Micarta tray a gorgeous Christmas Gift for only $1.00”. I have yet to find evidence of this tray being sold  anytime earlier in the year. It appears it was only used for the Christmas promotion. And, if that is the case, such a short production life explains its rarity today.

As I mentioned earlier in the post, while Googling for info about the tray, I found two selling on line. One on ebay and the other from a high end antique store specializing in Art Deco items. Both are selling for over $1,100.00.

The Nocturne has even become part of the permanent collections at the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery.

 

1933 Nocturne in the Yale University Art Gallery collection.

1933 Nocturne Tray, Yale University Art Gallery. Photograph from artgallery.yale.edu.

 

So now that I have the 1933 tray, I want to get the five 1932 trays. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)

 

 

Vanished New York City Art Deco: The Trylon and Perisphere – Part Two 1939 – 1941

2 Replies
Opening day, looking down Constitution Mall toward the Trylon and Perisphere.

April 30, 1939, Opening Day. Looking down Constitution Mall toward the George Washington Statue and the Trylon and Perisphere from the Court of Peace. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

 

The Theme Center

A diagram detailing the different parts of the "Theme Center".

Diagram showing the different parts of the “Theme Center”. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.

 

The above diagram details all the parts that comprise the Theme Center.

1. The Perisphere; 2. The Trylon; 3. Entrance; 4. The escalators; 5. The two revolving platforms; 6. Democracity; 7. Bridge connecting the Perisphere to the Trylon; 8. The Helicline.

 

Entrance

Each day the Theme Center stayed open for 12 hours, 10:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. A door at the base of the Trylon lead to the Perisphere. Tickets could be purchased at booths near by. From there one passed through turnstiles into a very modern, aluminum lined lobby. Straight ahead the two largest escalators in the world (in 1939) carried visitors up to the Perisphere. When reaching the top one stepped onto the rotating platform that transported them around the Perisphere.

 

Ticket booth and Theme Center entrance.

Seen in the background is the ticket booth and entrance to the Theme Center. Samuel H. Gottscho photograph from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.

 

Turnstiles at the Theme Center.

Guard collecting tickets at the Theme Center turnstiles. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.

 

Theme Center lobby.

Theme Center lobby and escalators. The escalator on the left is for the upper platform of the Perisphere. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.

Democracity

Opening day and the Theme Center was ready to receive visitors. Once inside the Perisphere fair goers gazed down at Democracity as if floating in space.

 

Gazing at the future. Two models look down at Democracity.

Two fashion models look down at Democracity from the upper platform. Image from Vogue Magazine, May 1, 1939.

The souvenir program for the Theme Center, Your World of Tomorrow,  describes Democracity like this:

This isn’t “the city of the future.” It isn’t a blue print of a dictated city . . . It’s a symbol of a way of living – not meant to be followed in detail.

Yet you can start to build this city tomorrow morning . . . There are no trick materials, no imaginary machines.

“Here,” said the designer, Henry Dreyfuss, “is a center built in greenery, with a perfect traffic system – and surrounding it, separated by a green belt, are industrial and residential towns – and all these towns, with the businesses and social section at the center, together constitute Democracity.”

It’s hard to get used to the idea, because we think of cities stopping abruptly where the country begins. But Democracity only makes sense if you remember that it covers about 11,000 square miles – about 8 million acres – and is inhabited by a million and half people who live in 70 different towns. The farms, the residential towns, the industrial towns and the social and business center, each depending on all the others, all of them together are Democracity.

Your World of Tomorrow, Copyright, 1939, by Rogers-Kellogg-Stillson, Inc.

 

The front cover of the souvenir program Your World of Tomorrow, 1939. From the collection of the author.

One of the most memorable parts of the exhibit were the”living murals” projected on the dome inside the Perisphere. The Fair’s Special Project Director, Fred Waller, conceived the plan for these images. Multiple, synchronized Eastman Kodak projectors provided the seamless effect.  A decade later Waller invented the widescreen movie system Cinerama. R.C.A. provided the sound system. Famed radio newscaster, H. V. Kaltenborn read narration for the exhibit. The stirring music was composed by William Grant Still.

 

Artists drawing of the inside the Perisphere

Artist conception inside the Perisphere, showing Democracity and the projected visions and stars on the dome. Image from mcny.org

 

Wurts Bros. photo of the interior of the Perisphere.

The interior of the Perisphere. Photograph details of Democracity and the two rotating platforms. Wurts Bros. photo from mcny.org

 

The Fair Board of Directors anticipated that the Theme Center exhibit would be one of the most popular attractions. Each rotating platform inside the Perisphere had a maximum capacity of 4,000 people per hour. With this in mind their attention turned to crowd control. In an effort to stem the crowds they decided to charge an admission fee. Ten cents seemed too little to really keep the crowds away. So twenty-five cents became the price. Even with an admission fee, Democracity still proved a very popular attraction.

 

Exit & Helicline

Erecting barriers at the entrance / exit points of the platforms forced visitors to exit after one rotation. Upper platform visitors descended a staircase down to the connecting bridge. The lower platform exited directly onto it. Because this was one of the highest visitor vantage points at the fair, it provided great photo opportunities. Often the bridge and the Helicline were crowded with visitors.

 

Visitors exiting from the Perisphere to the connecting bridge.

Patrons exiting from the upper and lower platforms of the Perisphere to the connecting bridge. Image from RIBApix.

 

Lower platform exit to the connecting bridge.

Detail of the bridge connecting the Perisphere to the Trylon from the lower platform exit. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.

 

Crowds looking at the fair grounds from the "Theme Center's" connecting bridge.

Crowds gathered on the Trylon and Perisphere’s connecting bridge. Image from Getty Images Gendreau Collection.

 

Fairgoers looking up Constitution Mall from the Theme Center bridge.

Fairgoers looking up Constitution Mall from the Theme Center bridge. Visible in the background is the Washington statute and the Federal Building. Image from Library of Congress prints and photographs division.

 

After crossing the bridge, visitors passed through the Trylon to the Helicline. The Helicline’s gently curve and slope provided a pleasant stroll back to the ground.

 

Very dramatic photograph taken underneath the Helicline.

Dramatic photograph from under the highest point of the Helicline. Wurts Bros. photograph from the collection of mcny.org

 

Fair goers exiting the "Theme Center" on the Helicline.

Fair goers exiting the “Theme Center” on the Helicline. Photo by ¬© Peter Campbell/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

 

Visitors leaving the "Theme Center" via the Heilicline.

Another view of the Helicline and visitors leaving the Trylon and Perisphere. Photo by © Peter Campbell/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

 

Once back on the ground and if needing a guide book or a map, a futuristic information booth was conveniently located under the Helicline.

 

The information booth beneath the Helicline.

The futuristic information booth beneath the Helicline. Image from the DVD 1939 New York World’s Fair, Volume 2, from the Historical Archive Corporation.

 

Day Time

Because the Theme Center was painted pure white, the Trylon and Perisphere stood out in stark contrast against all the buildings on the fairgrounds. And because of their enormous size the Trylon and Perisphere could be seen for miles around.

 

The Trylon and Perisphere as seen from Manhattan.

The Trylon and Perisphere seen in the distance from Manhattan. (Photo by © Photo Collection Alexander Alland, Sr./CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

 

On bright sunny days the gleaming structures provided a visual guide post for fairgoers. Heading towards the Trylon and Perisphere, would lead one back to the center of the fairgrounds.

 

The morning sun shines on the Trylon and Perisphere.

Looking south down Constitution Mall toward the Trylon and Perisphere, gleaming in the morning sun. Image from mcny.org

 

Perylon Hall lower right with the Trylon and Perisphere in the background.

Late morning light on the Trylon and Perisphere. The curved wall with the mural of Perylon Hall is in the lower right of the photo. Image from mcny.org

 

North Corona gate with the Trylon and Perisphere in the background.

The Trylon and Perisphere looming over the transportation zone. In the foreground is the North Corona entrance gate. George B. Bader photograph from the collection of mcny.org

 

The Trylon and Perisphere from the Court of Communications.

Looking east from the Court of Communications to the Trylon and Perisphere in mid-afternoon. Image from mcny.org

 

The Court of Power with the Trylon and Perisphere.

Looking west from the Court of Power. Modern florescent light stands in the foreground. Entrance at the base of the Trylon can be scene in the background. Image from mcny.org.

 

Looking at the Theme Center from the Plaza of Light.

Sunset at the Plaza of Light. The Perisphere will soon be flood lighted for nighttime. Image from mcny.org.

 

 

Night Time

If the Trylon and Perisphere were spectacular in daytime, at night they became magical. The Trylon’s only illumination came from a series of small, red airplane warning lights. Banks of floodlights carefully aimed at the Perisphere transformed it into a huge, blue “planet”. Onto the blue lights, swirling clouds patterns were projected, this gave the illusion that the Perisphere was slowly rotating.

 

Night time at the New York Worlds Fair. Perisphere flood lighted at night.

A view of the sculpture ‘Speed’ by Joseph Reiner and the Trylon and Perisphere lit up at night. Photo by Sherman Oaks Antique Mall/Getty Images)

 

Paul Manship's "Time and Fates of Man" silhouetted against the Perisphere.

A view of the Perisphere lit up at night with the sculpture ‘Time and Fates of Man’ by Paul Manship in the foreground at the 1939 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, New York. (Photo by Sherman Oaks Antique Mall/Getty Images)

 

For special occasions the lighting scheme matched the event.

 

The July 4th lighting scheme.

July the 4th and the Perisphere is turned into a giant red, white and blue ball. Photo by Sherman Oaks Antique Mall/Getty Images)

 

Closing day of the 1939 coincided with Halloween and the Perisphere became the world’s largest jack-o-lantern.

 

The Perisphere greeted visitors on opening night of the second season.

 

Perisphere greets visitors on the opening day of the second season.

May 11, 1940. The fair opens for the second season and the Perisphere welcomes visitors. Image from NYPL Digital Collections.

 

Attendance did not meet expectations in 1939. So the fair board decided to drop the admission price from 75 cents to 50 cents. And with Europe at war, the theme changed from “Building the World of Tomorrow” to “For Peace and Freedom”. To make the fair more popular to the average person, attractions were added to the amusement zone and highbrow themes were downplayed. This made the Theme Center feel somewhat out of step with the fair’s new outlook.

 

Night time at the World's Fair.

The Perisphere, Trylon and the Westinghouse building are illuminated at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. (Photo by © Peter Campbell/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

 

Demolition

October 27, 1940 the New York World’s Fair closed for good. Despite all the efforts to entice more visitors to the fair, because of the huge cost to build and run the exposition the fair ended in bankruptcy. While demolition started the next day, the Trylon and Perisphere remained intact until December. The razing of the Theme Center began on December 10, 1940. Since these were never intended to be permanent, even before closing day, the gypsum covered tiles were falling off. Workmen began removing the outer covering exposing the red steelwork for the first time in two and half years.

 

The Theme Center being demolished.

December, 1940. The Helicline is being dismantled. The gypsum covering on the Perisphere is just starting to be removed. Photo from Getty Images.

 

January, 1941

 

 

The scrap steel of the Theme Center went to the defense effort as the United States prepared for the possibility of war. By the end of April, 1941 nothing remained of the Trylon and Perisphere. The Fairgrounds became Flushing Meadows Park and the home of the United Nations just after the Second World War. The U.N. moved to their permanent Manhattan location in 1950.

Flushing Meadow Park, 1946.

April 4, 1946. One of the only remaining buildings of the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair is the New York City Building in the Foreground. This building housed the United Nations from 1946 – 1950. The circular area to the center right is where the Trylon and Perisphere stood. Image from the Associated Press.

The park never reached its potential and became a bit shabby. A second World’s Fair in 1964 – 1965 turned the tide for Flushing Meadow – Corona Park.

 

The Unisphere on the site of the Trylon and Perisphere.

Symbol of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the Unisphere. Built on the site of the Trylon and Perisphere. (Photo by James P. Blair/National Geographic/Getty Images)

After the closing of the second world’s fair in 1965, Flushing Meadow became the park Robert Moses envisioned back in 1935. Today the New York City Building is the only remaining structure of the 1939 World’s Fair. Housed inside of it is the Queens Museum which displays souvenirs and artifacts from the fair. And that is the only way we can experience the 1939 New York World’s Fair and the Trylon and Perisphere.

 

Anthony & Chris.