The Eye of the Beholder

Looking at this ad from 1936, a mini bout of melancholia overtook me. There is such a strong sense of spirit to this stove—indeed, the claim that it 'sets a new world standard of beauty' has merit, regardless of whether or not the style was widely embraced by the populace. It seems to me that with appliance design today, function has held the upper hand over form for too long; innovation in performance has become incremental, rather than sweeping. So I'll look forward to the swing of the proverbial pendulum back toward exciting artistic visions.