 |
New
Britain |
|
 |
Relics
from a push-button era
|
| By
SCOTT WHIPPLE, Staff Writer |
May
11, 2003 |
|
|
NEW
BRITAIN -- Most folks would be unhappy with a room full of
appliances that don’t work. But, Dr. Briann Greenfield
and her graduate students aren’t like most folks. |
In
fact, Central Connecticut State University’s assistant
professor of history would rather view her collection of
household appliances under glass.
"Industrial design and social change are closely
linked," she said, gazing at a 1930s toaster in
Central’s Elihu Burritt Library the way some people
might take in the Hope diamond. "The shape and
decoration of a toaster can reveal much about the time
period in which it was produced -- also the people who
purchased it. More than a toaster, it becomes a symbol of
an era."
From now through June 27, symbols of earlier eras in New
Britain will be on display at the university.
Stoves, food mixers, toasters and other home appliances
manufactured in the city form the centerpiece for a new
exhibit that dramatizes the impact of household appliance
design and women’s changing role in society.
Located in the lobby of the university library, the
exhibit, "Drudgery and Design: Appliances Made in New
Britain," features artifacts on loan from the New
Britain Industrial Museum, early advertisements, and
product manuals provided by the New Britain Public
Library’s Local History Room.
Assembled by Greenfield and her students, the exhibit
showcases products made by Landers, Frary & Clark, a
local company that once produced domestic tools and
appliances under the Universal label.
"We teach people how to present history to the
public," Greenfield said. "So, if someone in the
film industry wants to know how to do this, this would an
ideal program. Or, you might be an administrator for a
nonprofit cultural organization. It’s different than
teaching in a classroom."
Greenfield, who holds a Ph.D. in history from Brown
University, was hired to come to Central two years ago to
help develop a public history program.
She has worked on the history of museums in New England,
historic preservations, civic celebrations and other
commemorations that help shape New England’s regional
identity.
And she’s not without a sense of humor.
"Look at this," she said with a smile.
"It’s a Jet 99 vacuum cleaner from the 1930s. With
a Jet 99, you weren’t expected simply to vacuum your
home. You were expected to take advantage of its 99 uses.
One use was spraying insecticide."
Greenfield said public history graduates often go on to
work for museums, in archives preservation, or in film or
television.
"Public history is intended to be interpreted for a
public audience," Greenfield said, "not simply
academics."
Albert Marceau, one of Greenfield’s 12 students, said
the program called for "an intense amount of
reading."
Geography teacher Elizabeth Redden, also a student,
agreed. She said she read books for the course about
design in the home, electricity, changing social standards
and rising expectations.
"It wasn’t enough to have a home," she said.
"In the 1920s, you had to have a clean home."
Student Melissa Sirick, acting director of the
Wethersfield Historical Society, called history her
"great love."
Public history offered her an opportunity to earn a
master’s degree in practical history, she said.
"This was a perfect fit," she said.
Paulette Kellerstedt, a former Landers employee, said she
had worked in the vacuum bottle division. Her mother,
husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law also worked for
the company that closed its doors for the final time in
1965.
For Kellerstedt, the appliances brought back memories.
"Objects like these are imbued with social
meaning," Greenfield said.
©The Herald 2003.
Used by permission. |
|
|
