Potato Masher

Henry Dreyfuss is widely recognized as one of the most prominent early industrial designers, and this suite of kitchen utensils illustrates the character of his early works. The Washburn Company hired Dreyfuss to update its line of kitchen tools in 1934; the company’s president John S. Tomajan had already met with several practitioners featured in Fortune’s seminal article on industrial designers published in February that same year. Tomajan was turned off by the “cocksureness” of the other designers but was drawn to the young Dreyfuss’s earnest and straightforward manner. Dreyfuss set out to reshape the Washburn line in terms of both form and color, perceiving the commission not as a challenge to create one universal tool, but a series of purpose-specific objects that put function and usability at the fore. He expanded the collection to include diverse array of objects such as the potato masher, slotted spoon, and spatula in this group. The various utensils were united by the bright colors in which they were produced: red, yellow, and green.

Potato Masher; Designed by Henry Dreyfuss (American, 1904–1972); chrome-plated steel, steel wire, painted wood; H x W x D: 26.7 × 10.2 × 7.6 cm (10 1/2 in. × 4 in. × 3 in.); Gift of George R. Kravis II; 2018-22-85