Streamlined

[John in Covina]

Hi All!

One of the great design advents was that of streamlining of all sorts of items. I think it originates with aviation research then passed quickly to the automobile industry and springboards from there into many ordinary items found in the home and at work.

From toasters to radios to vacuum cleaners, these appliances suddenly were transformed into speeding icons of the Golden Era. Kitchen counters had appliances that looked like they were going at least a hundred miles an hour while standing still. (I have a fascination with these items as a kid the old vacuum cleaner looked like a rocket ship to me.)

Any favorites out there for streamlining?

 

[Paisley]

I like streamlined cars and airplanes, of course, but I prefer my furniture and appliances to look like they wouldn't move in a hurricane.

 

[Diamondback]

Personally, I'm partial to Henry Dreyfuss' streamlining job on the 1938 20th Century Limited myself.

From locomotive:

to boat-tail observation car. (no photos found online, but trust me, befitting "the most famous train in the world except only the Orient Express".

 

[dhermann1]

Lotsa trains

Another favorite streamlined train is the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Zephyr, one of the first deisel trains. http://members.aol.com/bpzephyr/bpz.html
General Motors had their E series of locomotives,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_E-units
Alco had its PA and PF units, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Freedom_Train_ALCO_PA1.jpg
Baldwin had a slightly less atrractive unit, and Fairbanks Morse also had a streamlined diesel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:OP-5222.jpg
All REALLY cool.
In the automotive world, the Chrysler Airflow was agaed of its time in styling, but is still a classic. http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Airflow/
All sorts of things had piles of parallel stripes all over them. How this made, say, a radio move faster, I don't know. http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=Philco&id=Philco_37_630
Illustrators like Rockwell Kent even made people look streamlined.
http://www.phillipscollection.org/american_art/artwork/Kent-North_Wind.htm
http://clubs.plattsburgh.edu/museum/rkbp_520.jpg

 

[BeBopBaby]

Hands down, my all-time favorite streamlined item is the Airstream Trailer!

 

[Absinthe_1900]

The Streamlined vision of the 39 World's Fair.

 

[Salv]

The 1937 Tatra T-87 from Czechoslovakia

 

[dhermann1]

1937 Tatra

I see what you mean:
http://www.die-neue-sammlung.de/z/muenchen/sam/fahrzeug/b0001_5_en.htm

 

[Atomic Glee]

I love Streamline Moderne architecture. From downtown Fort Worth, the Palace Theater/Barnes & Noble:

 

[HadleyH]

In fashion

I do like the image of 1920s womanhood: trim, jaunty, streamlined if you will!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

The 1937 Tatra T-87 from Czechoslovakia

Oh now....I -like- that......mmmm

vaguely like some of the older Saabs....

Gotta love European cars....

 

[Teekay44]

Pennsy Streamline

New York Central!!! :eusa_doh: Diamond my boy it's the Pennsylvania RR. "The Standard of the World"

The Streamlined K-4 pulling the Broadway Limited
http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/PRDBLE.JPG
The S1, T1 and Q1 series of locomotives
http://www.yesteryeardepot.com/PRDBLE.JPG
And OF Course the Classic GG1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRR_GG1 or http://www.steamlocomotive.com/GG1/
You can't beat that Raymond Loewy design!!

The sleek tuscan red coaches trimmed in gold pulled by the big electric. Nosing out of NYC on the run to Chicago. Striking image. Streamlining in all its glory. At the hight of the art deco movement.

fftopic: Ah... travel on the Pennsy. Truly part of the golden era. I was fortune enough to ride in a cab of a GG1 from Lancaster PA to Harrisburg PA in the late '60s. Also take the Broadway to Canton OH. (when it was still the PRR)

 

[Diamondback]

Teekay, I had relatives on both lines, actually. While the T1 was a well-thought-out design, it's "hulking mass" aesthetic just didn't have the "simplicity" of Dreyfuss' work. But that's why different brands survive, right, catering to differences of personal preferences?

I will agree, though, that the Broadway was a worthy rival to the 20th Century. And that Penn Central was a disaster that never could have succeeded, no matter what.

 

[Teekay44]

Viva la difference! (And just a friendly little rail fan ribbing lol )

Ah yes.. The race into Chicago..
Steams finest racing together on side by side tracks.

Hudson vs Pacific. Water level route vs The Horseshoe curve.

When trains were on time and porters shined you shoes overnight. Two worthy opponents battling it out for the crown of commerce. A Great rivalry that will go to be debated for a long time!

Part of the fun Eh?

But streamlined locomotives to me SCREAM Golden era!! Or is it the sound of the steam whistle coming back over time?.......

 

[CharlieH.]

Aaaah, streamliners!

Some of my favourite examples have already been mentioned, so I'll just illustrate a few others:

The M-10000 and the Pioneer Zephyr

Hard to believe a train actually looked like this!

Best dang paint scheme ever!

The original Hiawatha

The Crusader (note the most un-streamlined lettering!)

Illinois Central's Green Diamond (oh, for a colour pic of this one!)

City Of San Francisco with an E3 at the front

The Daylight - A semi-streamlined beauty that's still around.

Germany's V19-1001

 

[Diamondback]

Part of the fun Eh?

But streamlined locomotives to me SCREAM Golden era!! Or is it the sound of the steam whistle coming back over time?.......

Indeed, sir, to both.

Someday, if I ever win the MegaMillions, I'd like to build fullsize replicas of NYC 5450, PRR 3768 and the finest steam-locomotive test-plant ever created (which I currently believe to be PRR Juniata, largely based on my visit to the museum there), and see once and for all what had more raw power. (Since the original J1 Hudson was basically a super-Pacific with the boiler and firebox stretched so far it needed another axle to support it, maybe also build a "stretched-K4" theoretical PRR Hudson for comparison-trials, along with the best of NYC's Pacifics?)