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Energizing The Everyday

For this assignment we had to visit the Cooper Hewitt and choose an item we liked. We then had to ask questions about the item and then research the item. From there, we had to write an essay about the items significance or what it related to in its time period. I originally chose the silent butler for my object but then I changed my mind and decided to research the Brownie Camera instead.

                                                                             

The raised almond shape of the Silent Butler makes you assume that this could be some sort of an iron at first. But at a closer glance, it looks like a weird chrome football with a handle on the back that could be something out of The Jetsons. “What exactly is this silent butler?” is the first thing I thought. The metal design is sleek, with little raised lines down the middle, next to a tiny orange thumb piece that supposedly makes it easier serve nuts and mints out of the base. The piece is designed for a hostess’ use. The orange handle matches the thumb piece, it has a nice gentle curve and seamlessly flows with the chrome metal. The fact that it looks like it would be cold to the touch is alluring. It is easy to imagine this piece being decorative, perhaps a nice piece to put on a side table in a living room, or next to a swanky Eames lounge chair. This piece could be something to talk about at a party. “What is this odd contraption?” The silent butler can be envisioned in a butler’s hand offering, “More lightly salted almonds?” at an upscale cocktail party. Today the silent butler is a retro collectable item, this makes sense given its mid-century modern style (which is coming back into interior design trends.) Silent butlers represent a time where design was valued even on the smallest of scales, that being serving mints and nuts. This silent butler is actually special because other silent butlers are made for collecting cigarette ashes and bread crumbs off tables, the fact that this silent butler is actually for serving makes it innovative yet oddly kitschy at the same time. 

  1. Was this actually meant for a butler to use? To serve with? Or is it for people who cannot afford a butler? Both?
  2. Does the name of this piece stem from some sort of ironic joke? Has the name affected the product’s success or where it has ended up in its market?
  3. Who was this product appealing to? What market were the sellers aiming for?
  4. Was this item influential or considered groundbreaking? If so how? If not, why?
  5. What kind of people actually ended up buying it? Who used it?
  6. Was this used for it’s appearances (put on display) more than its intended use?
  7. What was the purpose for this design? Was the design for aesthetic purposes only or was it genuinely made to be better for serving “nuts and mints” as suggested?
  8. What was the design inspired by? Was this design style popular at the time?
  9. How popular was this item? Was this item hard to attain? Is it a status symbol?
  10. This item is now considered a coveted collectable? Did the creators of this item intend or know it was going to be come this?
  11. How was this silent butler different than the other silent butlers on the market? How did the manufacturer intend on creating a desire for this product or a way to set this product apart?

 

The Brownie’s Camera: Influencing The 20th Century

The art world used to be thought of as an exclusive hobby solely for the elite. Many pieces of fine art were priced highly and were out of sight and mind for most people. Photography in particular was regarded as a luxury. In the late 1800’s, having a painting of a family portrait was already a high class status symbol, so being able to get your photo taken meant that you had a lot of money. Making art an exclusive commodity is not good because it takes away the potential for other, less wealthy members of society to experience other cultures and explore creative worlds. Therefore, it deprives a society from becoming more cosmopolitan and worldly. The elitism of art changed when Kodak released The “Brownie” Camera in 1900. The Brownie Camera is a small, plastic, analog, manual camera. They fit in the palm of your hand and they look as if it could be fit for a child. Brownie cameras are usually black, no fancy bells and whistles. A Brownie Camera is made for function, not for aesthetic pleasure. The aesthetics of the brownie camera are black, square, and minimal. However the look did evolve over time slightly in order to match whatever the popular design style was for the decade. As the issues and movements of the 1900’s unfolded, the release of the Brownie helped democratize the world of art, gave a visual voice to marginalized people who had not previously been heard, and showed that photography can alter societal thoughts on pressing subjects such as war.

The Brownie was affordable, priced at only $1.00 in 1900, which today would be approximately $25.00. This turned what was once a hobby for rich, white men, into a diverse art form where it didn’t matter what age, socioeconomic status, or gender you were. Marc Olivier, an art critic and art historian, discusses the cultural importance of the introduction to the Brownie Camera to everyday people, “By 1905 [five years after the camera’s release,] an estimated ten million Americans had become amateur photographers, most of whom were previously excluded from photographic expression.”1This was the beginning of giving a voice to people who previously were not expected to contribute such as women, people of color, and even children. The camera was actually subliminally marketing to women and children. Kodak viewed them as a new, previously untapped market that would be willing to buy cameras. The name “Brownie” comes from Scottish folktales where the characters were called Brownies.2 These folktales showed up in magazines geared towards women and children during this time. Kodak hoped that women and children would make the connection and want to buy a camera associated with something they already saw in media.

As more people gained access to small, portable, and inexpensive cameras, people were able to document more revealing, gritty, and even disturbing events not only in America, but in the world. During this time, the power that laid within an image, despite the size or quality of the camera, is that you could not alter the truth that you saw. This applied to the World War One, the Great Depression, World War Two, The Civil Rights Movement, and The Vietnam War. In 1934, America was coming out of the Depression and slowly entering World War Two. The same year, Kodak developed an even smaller Brownie Camera, called The Baby Brownie that could fit in your pocket and was more portable than ever. It even had an art deco style, which was very popular during this time. More people entered the world of photography collectively accumulating documentation of important cultural shifts. However the government would take then confiscate those photos and suppress them, so the American people did not know what was going on. This happened to the work of Dorothea Lange, a photographer who captured the struggling side of America such as poverty during The Depression and Japanese internment camps. 3

1 Olivier, Marc. “George Eastman’s Modern Stone-Age Family: Snapshot Photography and the Brownie.” Technology and Culture 48, no. 1 (2007): 1-19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40061221.

2 Ian Bogost. “Snapshots.” In How to Do Things With Videogames, 70-76. University of Minnesota Press, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.cttttmwd.13.

Slowly, the media began showing increasingly gruesome photos, and they underestimated the public’s response. In the 60’s, photographers carried along easily accessible Brownie Cameras that could swiftly capture violent and horrific images of The Civil Rights movement. These snapshots splashed across the newspapers of America every day. It gave a voice to the people of color who previously were voiceless. Dr. Martin Luther King praised the photographers images for inspiring a new wave of young activism across the country, because the photos speak for themselves and cannot repress the evidence of social injustice. 4 These photos and displays of activism are evidence of how photography has the ability to change people’s attitudes and mentalities towards the government and society, usually to push against the establishment for positive change. This became even more prevalent during The Vietnam war which followed shortly after the Civil Rights Movement.

The cheapness and portability of the Brownie was greatly important when photography was entering the realm of war. The camera couldn’t be too nice or fancy, it had to be easily portable, and it still had to produce quality images. As odd as it sounds, the Brownie Camera was perfect for war. These little cameras produced some of the most striking images of the 20th century. The imagery of the Vietnam War was so powerful that it infuriated the American people. It made the citizens confused as to why this violence was happening, realize how many people were dying, and lose trust in the government. Susan Sontag, a writer, filmmaker, and political activist, explored the connection and importance between photography and political change. In her book On Photography she states specifically in her essay “In Plato’s Cave”, “Photographs like the one that made the front page of most
newspapers in the world in 1972—a naked South Vietnamese child just sprayed by American napalm, running down a highway toward the camera, her arms open, screaming with pain— probably did more to increase the public revulsion against the war than a hundred hours of televised barbarities.”5 The power of an image trumps that of film because a snapshot is a slice of paused time that imprints on the mind more easily than the way film flows.

3 Minor White. “DOROTHEA LANGE 1895-1965.” Aperture 12, no. 3 [47] (1965): 132. http:// www.jstor.org/stable/24471400.

4 Evelyn M Simien. “Black Leadership and Civil Rights: Transforming the Curriculum, Inspiring Student Activism.” PS: Political Science and Politics 36, no. 4 (2003): 747-50. http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 3649272.

The Brownie Camera democratized the world of photography and fine art, and was able to promote the creation of important images along the way. Without the creation of the Brownie Camera, we would not have been able to make pivotal changes and progress in society as easily. Additionally, many of the snapshots taken on Brownie Cameras in the past are now considered iconic photos that represent movements and history.

5 Susan Sontag. “In Plato’s Cave.” On photography. Penguin Books, (1973): 22.

Bibliography

Bogost, Ian. “Snapshots.” In How to Do Things With Videogames, 70-76. University of Minnesota Press, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.cttttmwd.13.
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Olivier, Marc. “George Eastman’s Modern Stone-Age Family: Snapshot Photography and the Brownie.” Technology and Culture 48, no. 1 (2007): 1-19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40061221. !

Simien, Evelyn M. “Black Leadership and Civil Rights: Transforming the Curriculum, Inspiring Student Activism.” PS: Political Science and Politics 36, no. 4 (2003): 747-50. http:// www.jstor.org/stable/3649272.
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Sontag, Susan. “In Plato’s Cave.” On Photography. Penguin Books, (1973): 22. !

White, Minor. “DOROTHEA LANGE 1895-1965.” Aperture 12, no. 3 [47] (1965): 132. http:// www.jstor.org/stable/24471400.

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