Hoover "Model 150" Vacuum Cleaner, 1936-1939

Industrial design pioneer Henry Dreyfuss created Hoover's 1936 Model 150 upright vacuum cleaner. It had a magnesium chassis and a Bakelite plastic hood, making it more lightweight. Henry Dreyfuss was a leading proponent of streamlined design--a modern, rounded, aerodynamic form which increasingly shaped 1930s household appliance design. Dreyfuss stressed "designing for people"--developing products that not only looked good, but also worked well.