Viktor Schreckengost has died at age 101

[InkAddict]

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/01/viktor_schreckengost_has_died.html

Viktor Schreckengost, a Clevelander who ranked as one of the leading industrial designers of the 20th century, died Saturday night at age 101. In a career lasting more than 70 years, Schreckengost had an immense, if largely anonymous, influence on American life and popular culture.



Schreckengost's designs kept entire industries humming and delighted generations of American consumers. He embodied the can-do attitude of Cleveland at the height of its economic power.
Schreckengost's most famous creations included his Art Deco-inspired "Jazz Bowl," created for Eleanor Roosevelt, when her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was governor of New York State. Glazed in black and faience blue with skyscrapers, cruise ships, pipe organs and street lamps, it voiced Schreckengost's passion for New York City in the jazz age.

Schreckengost said he didn't know the identity of the client when he designed the bowl for Cowan Pottery in Rocky River. He simply pulled a work order out of a basket and did his job. It was only later on that he discovered the original buyer wanted two additional bowls -- one for the family mansion in Hyde Park, N.Y., and one for the White House.

n 1933, Schreckengost designed the first truck with the cab over the engine for the White Motor Co. This innovation made it possible to build trucks with longer cargo beds and better maneuverability. In the 1950s, he designed a wildly popular line of pedal cars for Murray Ohio, then the world's largest producer of bicycles.

Whenever Schreckengost received a design assignment, he said he always asked himself "how could I take it and make it simpler and take labor out of it, so it's cheaper?" But underlying all his work was an even more profound question: "Why should only the wealthy have good design?"



A native of my old stompin' grounds in better days - Here's to nostalgia - RIP "Uncle Vik"

[xchrom]

1. the passing of an unknown but wonderful designer.

peace be with his family.

[Spiffarino]

2. Great art for the people? What a concept!

God bless you and happy trails, Viktor Schreckengost.

[Vinca]

3. He was brilliant. One of my favorite daydreams is finding a Jazz Bowl

when I'm out and about searching for antiques. Plan B: Win the lottery and buy one.

[peacetalksforall]

4. Thanks for posting.

[Ninga]

5. Bicycles, lawn chairs, dinner plates and china as well as oil and watercolors, military designs

all here:

www.victorschreckengost.org


a wonderful man.