Streamline Design: When Vacuum Cleaners Looked Like Spaceships

The 1930’s birthed a beautiful style of design that was immediately and relentlessly applied to all kinds of things. Buildings, vehicles, regular household appliances such as toasters and vacuums, and other every day items all became incredibly aerodynamic and shiny.

Streamline Moderne, or just Streamline, as the style came to be called, was inspired by aerodynamic design and emphasized smooth, curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sleek shiny chrome. It conveyed a sense of modernity and futurism that persists to this very day. The right toaster from the 30’s looks like it’s from some parallel future reality where the space age never ended.

All of these streamlined things are an absolute joy to look at, especially some of the more mundane household objects. While streamline design is more known for the various vehicles to which it was applied, this article is more reserved for those everyday household objects, that had no business being as streamlined. Why should a toaster be aerodynamic? Perhaps because society was, at that time, hurtling into the future at high speed, and every little bit helped.

I’ve gone ahead and compiled some of my absolute favorites down below, though if I had to pick one, I’d say the Electrolux Vacuum takes the cake. It’s a classic for a reason. When your vacuum cleaner looks like a spaceship, the future looks bright.