True value of "spaceballs"
DeserTBoB
exactly Kosher. That's how I found out about our resident fraudster,
Chuckie Noodles (aka Charles Nouilles, "The French Frauder") in the
first place. The Weltron 2001 "spaceball" has been a source of
amazement to me, not for its design or performance, but the high
prices they command on sleazeBay and other auction outlets. The
answer isn't in the intrinsic value of the things, but rather, who is
credited for the "spaceball" design itself...modernist designer
Charles Eames.
Eames, who died in 1977, did his share of industrial and commercial
design, although he was certainly overshadowed by the likes of
twentieth century great Henry Dreyfuss. In comparison to Dreyfuss'
monumental designs, which were as disparate as no less than three of
the most successful designs of telephones for Bell Telephone
Laboratories (1937, 1949 and 1965) and the New York Central J2a
Hudson's classic streamlined shrouding (1935), Eames' output seems to
be mere kitsch by comparison. The "spaceball" is an example of
that...a forgettable design, just part of the passing scenery of
typically disposable American pop garbage culture. However, every
designer has his/her cultists, Eames being no exception, and now Eames
is "chic." Whenever this happens, there are clueless follwers who
trail behind the serious students, and then fruaders and profiteers
who want nothing more than to fleece the uninitiated.
That's what seems to be driving the pricing point on "spaceballs."
I've written some bidders who paid big bucks for these things, and the
answer to the question "why" is invariably the same..."Well...it's
EAMES!" Most don't even have 8 tracks to stuff in them, and most
don't care if they don't work. Never mind that the acoustic design of
the "spaceball" is seriously flawed as I pointed out in an earlier
posting; being from Eames' own drawing board is the thing! These same
afficionados would probably willingly shell out hundreds, even
thousands for an Eames-designed plywood chair, a common fixture in the
'50s...and ungodly uncomfortable! One thing that will always make
Dreyfuss a far superior designer was that he attacked each project
from the standpoint of the human form; an early protagonist of
ergonomics was he. Eames just designed, I opine, for the eye, with
the bottom line being a quick sale of product rather than lasting
utility and well being of the user.
So much for logic!
dB
DeserTBoB
wrote:
>In comparison to Dreyfuss'
>monumental designs <snip>
Oh...next time you set your thermostat, check if it's a Honeywell T87
"The Round", sold from 1953 to the present day in innumerable
different variants to fill any HVAC temperature sensing need. Another
design triumph by Henry Dreyfess starting in 1941, who not only was
responsible for the classic round design, but also the bimetal
thermometer and the trouble-free mercury switch. Competitor
Robertshaw tried desperately to counterfeit Dreyfuss' round design in
many models for years, a tribute to the design's success. Dreyfuss
earlier designed the first Honeywell "Chronotherm" (1937) which used a
then-novel digital clock to provide automatic setback or setup of
temperature. Although now mostly truly digital technology, Dreyfuss'
"Chronotherm" trademark continues even today.
dB