“American designers took the Depression as a call to arms,”

Interesting article in the New York Times about how tough economic times often bring out the best in the design world. Name-checks include Russel Wright and Charles and Ray Eames.

On the nostalgia tip, my dad bought an Eames chair and ottoman like the one pictured above and I learned to walk by holding myself up on the ottoman seat which rotated with me as I staggered around. When my parents separated in the 70's the chair stayed with my mother and sister and I until 1983 when we moved. The movers picked up the chair by the arms, the ball bearings fell out of the base, and my mother just shrugged and told them to put it out on the curb for trash day. Of course, my dad asked about the chair two months later and when I told him it was gone he probably had a mental coronary.

“American designers took the Depression as a call to arms,”