New Exhibition To Highlight How Chicago Shaped Design In U.S.

CHICAGO — The Chicago History Museum announced that a new exhibition will shine a spotlight on the city's contributions to modern design in the United States. Presented as part of the Art Design Chicago initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art, “Modern by Design: Chicago Streamlines America,” will open Saturday, Oct. 27.

Inspired by modern technology, streamlined design emerged during the early 1930s and became one of the most popular design styles in history.

“Chicago is world famous for modern architecture but its contributions to modern design are often overlooked,” Olivia Mahoney, the museum's senior curator, said in a statement. “This exhibition explores how Chicago shaped the look and feel of modern America with streamlined graphics, products and interior design.”

Visitors can discover how the city introduced streamlined design on a mass scale at the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair and how local companies then adapted the style to make a wide range of products for American consumers who wanted the latest look and technology in their homes and workplaces.

Hundreds of objects, photographs and documents from the 1930s-1950s will be included in the exhibition.

The museum said objects on view, many for the first time, include:

• Tubular steel furniture designed by Wolfgang Hoffmann for the W.W. Howell Company
• Streamlined appliances and products by Sunbeam, Sears and Montgomery Ward’s
• Advertisements for Wrigley Gum designed by Otis Shepard
• McCormick-Deering Farmall tractor designed by Raymond Loewy
• American Flyer toy trains, Radio Flyer wagons, and Tootsie Toy cars

The exhibition will feature personal stories about designers such as Marianne Willisch and Lyn Colby, interior designers; Otis Shepard and Henry Harringer, graphic designers; and Wolfgang Hoffmann, Robert Budlong and John Morgan, industrial designers.

Admission to the exhibition is included with regular Museum admission ($19 adults/ $17 seniors and students, and free for children 12 years of age and younger and Illinois residents 18 years and younger). The exhibition will run through Dec. 1, 2019.

Image credits - Chicago History Museum:

1.) Unidyne microphone made by Shure Brothers, Chicago, c. 1940.
2.) Wall clock designed by George Stephens and made by the Hammond Clock Company, Chicago, 1938
3.) Coffee set, designed by Michael McArdle and made by the Chicago
Flexible Shaft Company, 1935
4.) Tubular steel coffee table with glass top, designed by Wolfgang Hoffmann
for the W.W. Howell Company, Geneva, Illinois, c. 1935