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Journal of Design History 2002 15(1):1-13; doi:10.1093/jdh/15.1.1
© 2002 by Design History Society
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‘Seals of Approval’

Consumer Representation in 1930s’ America

Susie McKellar

Royal College of Art


  Abstract

For design historians, 1930s' America is most usually associated with the emergence of the industrial design profession and application of styling and planned obsolescence to a variety of products. It has been referred to as the ‘streamlined decade’ and closely associated with the work of Henry Dreyfuss, Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes and Harold van Doren. The profession was viewed by many as an adjunct to advertising as Americans were encouraged to buy their country out of the deepening depression. However, there was a counter-culture running parallel to these activities. In much the spirit of Thorstein Veblen, individuals came forward and advocated a far more restrained and ascetic form of consumption, although they attempted to conceal their Puritanism by clouding their views in terms of buying by technical specification during a period of economic decline. This article seeks to explore the activities of some of the central protagonists within this counter-culture.

Key Words: buying by specification • consumer representation • gender • Puritanism • the State


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