Dreyfuss began his career as a stage designer, and then turned to industrial design. This design for a "Visible Toaster" has a certain theatricality, as one can watch the bread brown through the glass window. The plastic base and handles and the polished chrome body are hallmarks of 1930s industrial design, as is the absence of ornamentation other than striations on the sides of the toaster.
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Credit Line:John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John C. Waddell, 2000
Accession Number:2000.600.5
Marking: Molded in relief (bottom): BIRTMAN / VISIBLE TOASTER [within rectangle]; MODEL T 34 N / VOLTS 110-220 WATTS 660 / BIRTMAN ELECTRIC COMPANY / CHICAGO, ILL. [within oval]; PATENTS PENDING [within rectangle]; STYLE DESIGNED BY / Henry Dreyfuss [facsimile signature, within rectangle]
John C. Waddell, New York (by 1999–2000; his gift to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 16, 2000–January 7, extended to February 4, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 153; as "Electric Toaster," lent by John C. Waddell, Promised Gift of John C. Waddell).
Newport Beach, Calif. Orange County Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 25–August 19, 2001, unnumbered cat.
Flint. Flint Institute of Arts. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," September 14–December 16, 2001, unnumbered cat.
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," January 11–April 7, 2002, unnumbered cat.
Charlotte. Mint Museum of Craft and Design. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 3–July 28, 2002, unnumbered cat.
Tulsa. Philbrook Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," August 23–November 17, 2002, unnumbered cat.
Russell Flinchum. Henry Dreyfuss, Industrial Designer: The Man in the Brown Suit. New York, 1997, pp. 50, 112, ill. (color; unknown collection).
J. Stewart Johnson. American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2000, pp. 146, 169, ill. p. 153 (color).
Jeffrey L. Meikle. Twentieth Century Limited: Industrial Design in America, 1925–1939. 2nd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1979). Philadelphia, 2001, p. 74, fig. 49 (reprinted from "Modern Plastics Magazine," 1933).
Henry Dreyfuss (American, New York 1904–1972 South Pasedena, California)
1935
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