1997.41.a-b, Bantam Special camera, Walter Dorwin Teague (designer), Eastman Kodak Company (manufacturer), c. 1936

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Giving objects, even stationary ones, streamlined shapes was seen as a sign of progress and dynamism in the Depression years of the 1930s. Thanks to the emerging profession of industrial design and the need to enhance slumping sales figures, streamlined silhouettes were given to everything from buildings to buses and from cocktail shakers to vacuum cleaners. Furthermore, the modernity of these products was often enhanced through the use of new materials, including plywood, plastic, chromed steel, and aluminum. The end result was fashionable yet relatively inexpensive products that could be consumed on a mass scale and were not restricted to the wealthy upper class.

Walter Dorwin Teague, who designed this camera, was one of the United States most important industrial designers. Although he was already well established by the 1920s, Teague underwent a design catharsis in 1926. That year he went to Europe where he studied Le Corbusier's work and, from that time on, devoted himself exclusively to the new field of industrial design. Teague's design for this camera echoes the influence that the Machine Age aesthetic had on consumer goods during the thirties by incorporating repeated horizontal chrome banding to the casing of the camera and set against a black background.

Adapted from

DMA unpublished material.
Charles Venable, DMA unpublished material, 2001.

NOTES

TMS Updates

I updated Geo Xrefs - place of origin

I updated title in TMS by removing the quotations around Bantam Special

updated Provenance

In TMS, under text entries, it still lists this object as "longterm loan" but according to deed of gift found in the object file, ownership was transferred in 1997 to the DMA . Should this info be updated?

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Teague, Walter Dorwin (American, 1883-1960)

Teague_Walter Dorwin: ULAN: 500020760

Eastman Kodak Company: ULAN: 500334798

Cultures

Geography

Rochester (New York): TGN: 7014348

Process/materials

Historical periods

20th Century Design: The 1930s

American and European Design - 1920 to 1960

Streamlined Moderne: 300212738

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

About 1936: Eastman Kodak Company (manufacturer), Rochester, New York

Until 1994: David T. Owsley (collector), New York, New York

1994-1997: Dallas Museum of Art, longterm loan from David T. Owsley (collector) via the Alconda-Owsley Foundation on 4/2/1994 [1]

From 1997: Dallas Museum of Art, gift of David T. Owsley (collector) via the Alconda-Owsley Foundation on 5/19/1997 [2]

[1] According to the following documents found in the DMA object file: DMA Object receipt (dated May 11, 1994)

[2] According to the following documents found in the DMA object file: David T. Owsley's Deed of Gift (dated May 19, 1997), DMA Committee on Collections agenda (dated May 20, 1997), DMA Committee on Collections record (dated May 20, 1997)

AUDIO ASSETS

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

http://www.idsa.org/sites/default/files/tadkins/Teague%20Portrait.jpg

WEB RESOURCES

PBS American Experience~Read more about Industrial Designers and Streamliners

Walter Dorwin Teague~Read more about American industrial designer, Walter Dorwin Teague

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

Apply to objects where id equals 3261333

General Description

Giving objects, even stationary ones, streamlined shapes was seen as a sign of progress and dynamism in the Depression years of the 1930s. Thanks to the emerging profession of industrial design and the need to enhance slumping sales figures, streamlined silhouettes were given to everything from buildings to buses and from cocktail shakers to vacuum cleaners. Furthermore, the modernity of these products was often enhanced through the use of new materials, including plywood, plastic, chromed steel, and aluminum. The end result was fashionable yet relatively inexpensive products that could be consumed on a mass scale and were not restricted to the wealthy upper class.

Walter Dorwin Teague, who designed this camera, was one of the United States most important industrial designers. Although he was already well established by the 1920s, Teague underwent a design catharsis in 1926. That year he went to Europe where he studied Le Corbusier's work and, from that time on, devoted himself exclusively to the new field of industrial design. Teague's design for this camera echoes the influence that the Machine Age aesthetic had on consumer goods during the thirties by incorporating repeated horizontal chrome banding to the casing of the camera and set against a black background.