The K-42 Kettle
Designed in the post world war 2 era by Fred Moffatt, who is arguably one of Canada's first industrial designers. This "truly Canadian" piece represented a giant leap in the relationship between design and functionality in the mid 50's. it was one of the first production pieces that used an existing mold/die in it the construction of its form rather than manufacturing the entire piece from scratch. The designer recycled a headlight from a pre-war car, which was flipped over to create the basis of the design for a usable kettle.
After the war, the west underwent a change of general lifestyle aesthetic. It was the beginnings of "the new American dream", where every family had a house with a lawn, a white picket fence and most importantly, a car. The automobile and the post war days of cheap oil gave birth to the blissful suburban lifestyle. At this time there was a shift in the spirit of the American dream, from the pioneering spirit that encouraged creation and hard individual work, to the spirit of consumerism which promoted mass production and easy living, where everything is available to everyone.
Fred Moffatt was ahead of his time when he created the world's first marketable electric kettle in 1940. The world was at war and the need for efficient means of mass production was at the fore. Moffatt saw a need for this in everyday life and designed his kettle accordingly. Fred was initially inspired by a war engineer who out of necessity boiled water in the back of a headlight from a car (the same kind that moffat designed his from) . His methods of molding and mass producing a sleek and functional product would inspire many changes in the design aesthetics of the time.
Web References:
-Toronto Life: Art & entertainment guide
-The Star, Fred Moffatt Obituary