When Did the Refrigerator Cease Being White?

Around the turn of the century sertain writers rejected industrial products based on perceptions of poor quality and design. They also lamented the decline in the quality of handmade objects. This paper argues that early industrial products were not designed and that technology has no inherent aesthetic. Mechanical, utilitarian, and aesthetic functions of machines may be isolated in time and considered in relation to certain economic and social factors. Design is a value added element, added to appeal to a wider public at that point when profits decline and manufacturers must expand volume. By looking at technology based (electrical) products which are modern invented forms, we gain an insight into the aesthetics and social history of domestic products. Design begins at that metaphorical moment when the refrigerator is no longer white.