Mid2Mod: You'll ruin your eyes...

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

You'll ruin your eyes...

The 1950s saw an ever-increasing presence of television in middle-class households. Though still in its infancy, the television was already showing itself to be the centerpiece of the modern home. "TV" was life-altering in the same manner as the personal computer was three decades later, and, as with most technological advances, there were concerns. Much was made of the possibility that watching television in a darkened room could result in eye damage.

It wasn't long before many televisions were topped with a new adornment, a backlit statuette known as the TV lamp. It was felt that the ambient light generated by these lamps reduced eyestrain, permitting guilt-free viewing. Soon TV lamps became a must-have addition to the family television, positioned front and center, rather like a hood ornament on a 50s-era automobile. While their reign as a favorite piece of home decor only lasted about ten years, they possess significance in mid-century design history.

TV lamps came in thousands of styles from hundreds of manufacturers, and while they were occasionally made out of other materials, most were shiny glazed ceramic in one of the popular colors of the day. Most of these household sculptures were of animals, including the horse, deer, dog, bird, domestic cat and the ever-popular panther, but some were of people (often an Asian or mermaid theme) and still others were purely an exercise in abstract design.

From TVlamps.net