Because America was the only
country with skyscrapers, their
first designs used skyscraper
motifs. This was the heyday of the
flapper 1920’s when short skirts,
the Charleston
and Scott
Fitzgerald style
parties were
all the rage.
But in 1929,
the Stock
Market Crash
and Great
Depression
changed
everything.
Suddenly,
in order
to survive,
industry
had to
make
attractive
inexpensive
items that
would catch
consumers’
attention
and were
affordable.
They
hired the
“moderne”
designers
– and we
see Kodak
cameras,
Westinghouse clocks, Motorola
radios, kitchen tools, furniture –
anything people needed – mass
produced in the new look, with
curved silhouettes, bright colors,
pottery and plastics, instead of
traditional rectangular carved and
ornamented wood and expensive
smaller bejeweled and gilded
porcelain items. Many of these
affordable “modern” objects are
still available, and collectors can
have fun hunting for examples in
Florida’s antique malls, shows,
and auctions. Nearly every town
and city in Florida has a historic
museum of
some sort, and
these are great
places to be
inspired with
what items
were in use
back then and
might still be
found in local
shops.
Because of
the popularity
of inexpensive
of motion
pictures
providing
escapism
from those
grim times,
movie
producers
and theatre
owners
could count
on eager
audiences
and hired
the more
flamboyant
designers
for their
lobbies and
stages – glamorous films like
Busby Berkley’s featured geometric
patterns in the dance routines
and Donald Deskey designed posh
Radio City with the Rockettes
precision dancers.
Eventually, because of the love
affair Americans had with the
automobile and aero-dynamic
cross-country passenger trains
Continued on Page 62
American Streamline Moderne Telechron
Plastic Clock & Chrome Ashtray
French Art Deco Exotic Zebrano wood coffee Table
signed by Jules Leleu
59