Crayola Crayons
There’s nothing like the smell of a brand-new box of crayons. When I was in elementary school one of my most memorable gifts was a 64-crayon Crayola box with a sharpener built into the back. My husband and I … Continue reading
Design Lesson
Eames Leg Splint
The Eames lounge chair is probably one of the most recognized chairs of the twentieth century, but it wouldn’t exist without the Eames leg splint. In the early 1940s, Charles and Ray Eames would spend their evenings experimenting with … Continue reading
Trapper Keeper
Who doesn’t like getting fresh school supplies at the start of the school year? It is the silver lining to summer ending. One of the most overanalyzed items I purchased every year was my binder. My greatest binder of all time? … Continue reading
Pesce’s Up Chair
Gaetano Pesce’s work ranges from architecture, interior design, and urban planning to industrial and furniture design and art. He is known for using unexpected materials and ideas to explore difficult and often controversial contemporary themes. His most famous design is … Continue reading
Sony Walkman
Sometimes you just need to disconnect from everything. Today that usually means putting down your phone to stop scrolling through Instagram, but once upon a time it meant putting on headphones, pressing PLAY, and tuning out the world. It’s hard … Continue reading
Fiskar Orange Scissors
They’re easy to spot, affordable, and won’t disappoint. Is there anything worse than grabbing a pair of scissors to open a box and finding the blade is too dull to cut through the tape? The Finnish company Fiskars introduced … Continue reading
The Proust Chair
It’s not considered to be the most practical chair, but it has had a serious impact on design history. In 1978 Italian designer and architect Alessandro Mendini (1931–2019) designed his Proust chair for the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara during … Continue reading
Vladimir Kagan’s Serpentine Sofa
His name might not be as familiar as that of Charles and Ray Eames or George Nelson, but Vladimir Kagan is one of the great pioneers of modern furniture design in America. Kagan’s father was a Russian master cabinet- maker who … Continue reading
Tinker Toys
It’s that time of year when the classic holiday movie A Christmas Story airs on television. When Ralphie, the main character, is asked by his mother what he would like for Christmas, he responds, “I guess I would just … Continue reading
Pyrex
Most Thanksgiving tables are not complete without a piece of Pyrex. Pieces made from 1945 through the late 1960s might be the most popular vintage collectible right now due to the nostalgic aspect, price point, and of course, remarkable design. … Continue reading
