Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactu ...

er who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine and featured on its cover on October 31, 1949. He spent most of his professional career in the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1938. Among his designs were the

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 3 ...

, TWA and the former BP logos, the

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

Scenicruiser bus,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fi ...

s and

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal s ...

redesign, the

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Throughout their 150 year history, Lucky Strike has had fluctuating ...

package, Coldspot refrigerators, the

Studebaker Avanti The Studebaker Avanti is a personal luxury coupe manufactured and marketed by Studebaker Corporation between June 1962 and December 1963. A halo car for the maker, it was marketed as "America's only four-passenger high-performance personal c ...

and

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

, and the

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and us ...

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

. He was engaged by equipment manufacturer

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

to overhaul its entire product line, and his team also assisted competitor

Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various industries. Its business lines included agricultural equipment, construction equipment, power generation and power transmission equipment, and machinery for use in industrial s ...

. He undertook numerous railroad designs, including the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

GG1, S-1, and T1 locomotives, the color scheme and Eagle motif for the first streamliners of the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

, and a number of lesser known color scheme and car interior designs for other railroads. His career spanned seven decades. The press referred to Loewy as ''The Man Who Shaped America'', ''The Father of Streamlining'' and ''The Father of Industrial Design''."FastFacts"
on Raymondloewy.com

Early life

Loewy was born in Paris in 1893, the son of Maximilian Loewy, a Jewish journalist from Austria, and a French mother, Marie Labalme. Loewy distinguished himself early with the design of a successful

model aircraft A model aircraft is a small unmanned aircraft. Many are replicas of real aircraft. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models. Aircraft manufactur ...

, which won the Gordon Bennett

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cl ...

for model airplanes in 1908. By the following year, he had commercial sales of the plane, named the ''Ayrel''. He graduated in 1910 from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. He continued his studies in advanced engineering at Ecole Duvignau de Lanneau in Paris, but stopped his studies early to serve in World War I, eventually graduating after the war in 1918. Loewy served in the French army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

(1914–1918), attaining the rank of captain. He was wounded in combat and received the

Croix de guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. After the war he moved to New York, where he arrived in September 1919.

Career

Early work

In Loewy's early years in the United States, he lived in New York and found work as a window designer for

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...

s, including

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

Wanamaker's John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...

and Saks in addition to working as a fashion illustrator for ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' and ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...

''. In 1929, he received his first industrial-design commission to contemporize the appearance of a

duplicating machine Duplicating machines were the predecessors of modern document-reproduction technology. They have now been replaced by digital duplicators, scanners, laser printers and photocopiers, but for many years they were the primary means of reproducing do ...

Gestetner The Gestetner is a type of duplicating machine named after its inventor, David Gestetner (18541939). During the 20th century, the term ''Gestetner'' was used as a verb—as in ''Gestetnering''. The Gestetner company established its base in Londo ...

. Further commissions followed, including work for Westinghouse, the Hupp Motor Company (the

Hupmobile Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1939 by the Hupp Motor Car Company of Detroit. The prototype was developed in 1908. History Founding In 1909, Bobby Hupp co-founded Hupp Motor Car Company, with Charles Hastings, for ...

styling), and styling the Coldspot refrigerator for

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

-Roebuck. It was this product that established his reputation as an industrial designer. He opened a London office in the mid-1930s that continues to operate.

Pennsylvania Railroad

In 1937, Loewy established a relationship with the

, and his most notable designs for the firm involved some of their passenger

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

s. He designed a streamlined shroud for K4s Pacific #3768 to haul the newly redesigned 1938

Broadway Limited The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central ...

. He followed by styling the experimental S1 locomotive, as well as the T1 class. In 1940, he designed a simplified version of the streamlined shroud for another four K4s. In 1942, he designed the streamlined shroud for the experimental duplex engine Q1 which was his last work of streamlining PRR's steam engine. In 1946, at the Pennsylvania Railroad's request, he restyled Baldwin's

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...

s with a distinctive "

sharknose :''Sharknose is also the nickname of the Ferrari 156 F1'' Sharknose is a term applied by railfans to the styling of several cab unit diesel locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works to the specifications of the Pennsylvania Railroad. T ...

" reminiscent of the T1. He also designed the experimental steam turbine engine V1 "Triplex" for PRR which was never built. While he did not design the famous GG1

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...

, he improved its appearance with welded rather than riveted construction, and he added a pinstripe paint scheme to highlight its smooth contours. In addition to locomotive design, Loewy's studios provided many designs for the Pennsylvania Railroad, including stations, passenger-car interiors, and advertising materials. By 1949, Loewy employed 143 designers, architects, and draftsmen. His business partners were A. Baker Barnhart, William Snaith, and John Breen.

Studebaker

Loewy had a long and fruitful relationship with American car maker

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...

. Studebaker first retained Loewy and Associates and Helen Dryden as design consultants in 1936 and in 1939 Loewy began work with the principal designer Virgil Exner. Their designs first began appearing with the late-1930s Studebakers. Loewy also designed a new logo to replace the "turning wheel" that had been the Studebaker trademark since 1912. During World War II, American government restrictions on in-house design departments at

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, and

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

prevented official work on civilian automobiles. Because Loewy's firm was independent of the fourth-largest automobile producer in America, no such restrictions applied. This permitted Studebaker to launch the first all-new postwar automobile in 1947, two years ahead of the "Big Three." His team developed an advanced design featuring flush-front fenders and clean rearward lines. The Loewy staff, headed by Exner, also created the

Starlight Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It typically refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the Sun, observable from Earth at night, although a component of starlight is observable from Earth during daytime. Sunl ...

body, which featured a rear-window system that wrapped 180° around the rear seat. In addition to the iconic bullet-nosed Studebakers of 1950 and 1951, the team created the 1953 Studebaker line, highlighted by the Starliner and Starlight coupes. (Publicly credited to Loewy, they were actually the work of Robert Bourke.) The Starlight has consistently ranked as one of the best-designed cars of the 1950s in lists compiled since by ''Collectible Automobile'', ''

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was f ...

'', and ''

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to ...

''. The '53 Starliner, recognized today as "one of the most beautiful cars ever made",Ludvigsen, p. 2227 was radical in appearance, as radical in its way as the 1934

Airflow Airflow, or air flow, is the movement of air. The primary cause of airflow is the existence of air. Air behaves in a fluid manner, meaning particles naturally flow from areas of higher pressure to those where the pressure is lower. Atmospheric ...

. However, it was beset by production problems. To brand the new line, Loewy also contemporized Studebaker's logo again by applying the "Lazy S" element. His final commission of the 1950s for Studebaker was the transformation of the Starlight and Starliner coupes into the

Hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...

series for the 1956 model year. In the spring of 1961, Studebaker's new president,

Sherwood Egbert Sherwood Harry Egbert (July 24, 1920 – 1969)''Seattle Daily Times'', July 31, 1969, Page 38. was an American businessman and marine. He served as president of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation and Studebaker Corporation from February 1, 1961''W ...

, recalled Loewy to design the Avanti. Egbert hired him to help energize Studebaker's soon-to-be-released line of 1963 passenger cars to attract younger buyers. Despite the short 40-day schedule allowed to produce a finished design and scale model, Loewy agreed to take the job. He recruited a team consisting of experienced designers, including former Loewy employees John Ebstein; Bob Andrews; and Tom Kellogg, a young student from the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

in Pasadena. The team worked in a house leased for the purpose in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by lan ...

. (Loewy also had a home in Palm Springs that he designed himself.) Each team member had a role. Andrews and Kellogg handled sketching, Ebstein oversaw the project, and Loewy was the creative director and offered advice.

NASA

Raymond Loewy worked for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

from 1967 to 1973 as a Habitability Consultant for design of the

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations ...

space station, launched in 1973. One of NASA's goals in hiring him was to improve the psychology, safety, and comfort of manned spacecraft. Due to long duration confinement in limited interior space in micro-g with almost non-existing variability in environment, the comfort and well-being of the crew through the use of aesthetics played high importance. Loewy suggested a number of improvements to the layout, such as the implementation of a wardroom, where the crew could eat and work together, the wardroom window, the dining table and the color design, among others. A key feature of Raymond Loewy's design for the sleep compartments was that the floor plan for each of the three was different to create a sense of individual identity for each compartment. Elements of the crew quarters included sleep restraints, storage lockers, privacy partitions, lighting, a light baffle, privacy curtains, mirrors, towel holders and a communication box. The table was designed by Loewy in order to avoid creating hierarchical positions for crew members during long missions. Food was eaten using forks, knives and spoons, which were held in place on the table by magnets. Liquids were drunk from squeezable plastic containers.

International Harvester

The

company was a manufacturer of agricultural machinery and construction equipment. In 1935 it engaged Loewy to overhaul the product line, from the company's logo to operator ergonomics. The first new machine to reflect Loewy's design aesthetic, a crawler tractor known as the International TD-18, was launched in 1938.

Cockshutt

For the 1958 model year, Loewy was engaged to style the Canadian

Cockshutt Plow Company Cockshutt was a large agricultural machinery manufacturer, known as Cockshutt Farm Equipment Limited (1957–1962), based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Founded as the Brantford Plow Works by James G. Cockshutt in 1877, the name was changed to the ...

's new line of agricultural tractors in the squared-off style that was becoming popular.The Cockshutt 540,

550 __NOTOC__ Year 550 ( DL) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 550 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

560 Year 560 ( DLX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 560 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming yea ...

and

570 __NOTOC__ Year 570 (Roman numerals, DLXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The Denomination (currency), denomination 570 for this year has been used since the early medieval ...

models were all styled by Loewy.

Allis-Chalmers

Raymond Loewy's designers influenced the design of

crawler tractors. The tractors were described as having stylish panelwork with curvaceous lines.

Personal life, death and legacy

Loewy's first marriage was to Jean Thomson, which ended in divorce. Jean Thomson remained employed by the Loewy firm after the marriage ended. In 1980, Loewy retired at the age of 87 and returned to his native France. He died in his

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

residence on July 14, 1986. He was raised a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and was buried in the cemetery of a Catholic church in

Rochefort-en-Yvelines Rochefort-en-Yvelines is a commune in the Yvelines department, part of the Rambouillet in the Île-de-France in France.

Foundation

In 1992, Viola and Laurence Loewy, with the support of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the lar ...

, established the Raymond Loewy Foundation in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Germany. The foundation was established to preserve the memory of Raymond Loewy and promote the discipline of industrial design. An annual award of €50,000 is granted to outstanding designers, in recognition of their lifetime achievements. Notable grantees include

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

, Philippe Starck and

Dieter Rams Dieter Rams (born 20 May 1932) is a German industrial designer and retired academic who is closely associated with the consumer products company Braun, the furniture company Vitsœ, and the functionalist school of industrial design. His unobtru ...

Design philosophy

In 1998, Loewy's daughter, Laurence, established Loewy Design in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, Georgia, to manage her father's continued interests in the United States. In 2006, the Loewy Gallery, opened in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...

, through the supportive efforts of the

O. Winston Link Museum The O. Winston Link Museum is a museum dedicated to the photography of O. Winston Link, the 20th-century railroad photographer widely considered the master of the juxtaposition of steam railroading and rural culture. He is most noted for his 1950 ...

, the local business community, art patrons, Laurence Loewy, David Hagerman, and Ross Stansfield. Laurence died of natural causes October 15, 2008, and is survived by her husband David Hagerman. Hagerman is the representative for the Estate of Raymond Loewy, which remains dedicated to reintroducing Loewy's design philosophy of MAYA, or "most advanced, yet acceptable", to a new generation, through design exhibitions, publications, and documentaries. In October 2017, the documentary
Raymond Loewy: designer of American dreams
originally conceived by Laurence Loewy, premiered to Paris audiences. The film has aired on the French

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

channel.

Google doodle

On November 5, 2013, Loewy was honored with a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

depicting a streamlined

bearing a resemblance to the K4s Pacific#3768 shroud design, using the wheels of the train to form the word ''Google''.

Loewy designs

Work in years or models unknown *

Frigidaire Frigidaire Appliance Company is the American consumer and commercial home appliances brand subsidiary of multinational company Electrolux. Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first s ...

refrigerators, ranges, and freezers *

Panama Pacific Line Panama Pacific Line was a subsidiary of International Mercantile Marine (IMM) established to carry passengers and freight between the US East and West Coasts via the Panama Canal. Although IMM had begun preparations for this intercoastal service ...

interiors for a trio of American-built

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

s named the SS ''Ancon'', SS ''Cristobal'' and . * Wahl-Eversharp Symphony fountain pen. * Dorsett "Catalina", a popular early fiberglass pleasure boat. 1900s * ''Ayrel'' aircraft, 1909 1920s *

mimeograph duplicating machine shell, 1929 1930s *

Boeing 307 Stratoliner The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner (or Strato-Clipper in Pan American service, or C-75 in USAAF service) is an American stressed-skin four-engine low-wing tailwheel monoplane airliner derived from the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, which entered co ...

interior of aircraft owned by Howard Hughes *

Farmall tractor letter series, 1939–1954 * International Harvester Metro,

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 t ...

& medium duty vans and trucks, 1938 *

, streamlining of: **

PRR K4s The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) K4 4-6-2 " Pacific" (425 built 1914–1928, PRR Altoona, Baldwin) was its premier passenger-hauling steam locomotive from 1914 through the end of steam on the PRR in 1957. Attempts were made to replace th ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

** PRR S1 steam locomotive **

PRR Q1 The Pennsylvania Railroad class Q1, #6130, was a single experimental steam locomotive designed for dual service. The locomotive entered service in 1942, and retired in 1949 after accumulating a relatively low 165,000 service miles. The Q1 had a ...

steam locomotive **

PRR Q2 The Pennsylvania Railroad's class Q2 comprised one prototype and twenty-five production duplex steam locomotives of 4-4-6-4 wheel arrangement. They were the largest non-articulated locomotives ever built and the most powerful locomotives ever st ...

steam locomotive **

PRR T1 The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) class T1 duplex-drive 4-4-4-4 steam locomotives, introduced in 1942 with two prototypes and later in 1945-1946 with 50 production examples, were the last steam locomotives built for the PRR and arguably its most ...

steam locomotive ** PRR V1/Triplex steam turbine locomotive (Never-Build) ** PRR GG1 electric locomotive *

, The Broadway Limited (exterior color scheme and interiors) 1938–1947 *

, Fleet of Modernism color scheme for passenger cars 1938–1947 *

products, including the 1935 Sears Coldspot refrigerator * Sunbeam tombstone-shaped electric toaster. 1940s *

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool. Electrolux products sell under a variety ...

L300 refrigerator, 1940 *

Eagle streamliner colors and car interiors, 1940 *

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depre ...

components of the 1941 74FL Knucklehead * Schick electric razor, 1941 *

, white package, 1942 *

floor polisher model B6, 1944 *

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

Erie-built The Erie-built was the first streamlined, cab-equipped dual service diesel locomotive built by Fairbanks-Morse, introduced as direct competition to such models as the ALCO PA and FA and EMD FT. F-M lacked the space and staff to design and manufa ...

" (1945) and "

C-liner The Consolidation Line was a series of diesel-electric railway locomotive designs produced by Fairbanks-Morse and its Canadian licensee, the Canadian Locomotive Company. Railfans have dubbed these locomotives “C-liners”, however F-M referre ...

" (1950) models, Model H-10-44 (1944) and H-20-44 (1947), and early Model H-12-44 (1950), H-12-46 (1950), H-15-44 (1947), H-16-44 (1950), and H-16-66 (1950) diesel locomotives * Hallicrafters Model S-38 shortwave radio, 1946 * Loewy

Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The model line was introduced following the construction of a personal vehicle for Ed ...

, 1946 * Filben Maestro

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to sele ...

, 1947 * 1947

Studebaker Champion The Studebaker Champion is an automobile which was produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, from the beginning of the 1939 model year until 1958. It was a full-size car in its first three generations and a mid-size car in its ...

, 1947 * Accommodations and public spaces for the postwar refit of

Matson Lines Matson, Inc. is an American shipping and navigation services company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1882, Matson, Inc.'s subsidiary Matson Navigation Company provides ocean shipping services across the Pacific to Hawaii, Alaska, G ...

liner , 1948 *

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades ...

Model DR-4-4-15 "Sharknose" diesel locomotives, 1949 * IBM 026

keypunch A keypunch is a device for precisely punching holes into stiff paper cards at specific locations as determined by keys struck by a human operator. Other devices included here for that same function include the gang punch, the pantograph punch, ...

, 1949 *

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precis ...

station renovation (now the

), 1949; the building is included in the Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1999. * Lord & Taylor first branch, Manhasset, New York, 1946 * Eversharp Symphony fountain pen 1949 1950s * Lionel's #497 Coal Loader, 1950 *

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and ...

experimental Coach GX-1 (US Patent 2,563,917), precursor to the PD-4501 Scenicruiser, 1951. * The

"IH" "Man on a tractor" logo, 1952. *

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

cigarette packaging, 1952 *

J. W. Robinson's J. W. Robinson Co., ''Robinson's'', was a chain of department stores operating in the Southern California and Arizona area, previously with headquarters in Los Angeles, California. History Joseph Winchester Robinson was a merchant from Waltham, ...

Beverly Hills (department store, interiors), 1952. *

Studebaker Commander The Studebaker Commander is the model name of several automobiles produced by the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana (United States) and Studebaker of Canada Ltd of Walkerville and, later, Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). Studebaker began u ...

, 1953 *

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, wh ...

, ''Vista-Dome

North Coast Limited The ''North Coast Limited'' was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after t ...

'' (exterior color scheme and interiors), 1954. *

redesign of the original contour bottle, eliminating Coca-Cola embossing and adding vivid white Coke/Coca-Cola lettering, designed and introduced king-size or slenderized bottles (10, 12, 16 and 26 oz.) (1955) * Rosenthal Sunburst modern china set 1956. *

Hillman Minx The Hillman Minx was a mid-sized family car that British car maker Hillman produced from 1931 to 1970. There were many versions of the Minx over that period, as well as badge-engineered variants sold by Humber, Singer, and Sunbeam. From t ...

automobile, Series One onward, 1956–1959. *

Sunbeam Alpine The Sunbeam Alpine is a two-seater sports roadster/drophead coupé that was produced by the Rootes Group from 1953 to 1955, and then 1959 to 1968. The name was then used on a two-door fastback coupé from 1969 to 1975. The original Alpine was ...

automobile, series One onward, 1959–1967. * Sunbeam Mixmaster Models 10 and 11, 1950–1956. * Scott-Atwater ''Royal Scott'' outboard motor made by

McCulloch McCulloch is a Scottish surname. It's a variation of the Northern Irish surname McCullough. It's commonly found in Galloway. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan McCulloch (politician), New Zealand politician *Alan McLeod McCulloch ( ...

, 1957 * 500-Series of Cockshutt tractors, 1958 *

Le Creuset Le Creuset (, meaning "the crucible") is a maker of enameled cast-iron cookware. The company's first model was manufactured in the town of Fresnoy-le-Grand in France in 1925 and was similar in function to a dutch oven, but with T-shaped handles ...

Coquelle, 1958 * Leisurama homes, 1959 * ''Dorsett'' recreational boats, 1959 * TWA Twin Globes Logo, 1959 1960s * Coca-Cola steel can with diamond design, 1960 *

's distinctive blue, white and chrome

, 1962. Variations on Loewy's original design are today flown by most of the U.S. Air Force's fleet of VIP aircraft, including the military "VC" models of 747s, 757s, 737s, and Gulfstreams. * Union News restaurants, coffee shop, at the

TWA Flight Center The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The original terminal building, or head house, operated as a terminal ...

, Idlewild, circa 1962 *

, 1963 *

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

"racing stripe"

Service Mark A service mark or servicemark is a trademark used in the United States and several other countries to identify a service rather than a product. When a service mark is federally registered, the standard registration symbol ® or "Reg U.S ...

, 1964 * Five cents John Kennedy postage stamp, 1964 * DF-2000 line of modern furniture, 1965 *

Plastic Omnium Plastic Omnium is a French automotive supplier specialising in the manufacturing and commercialisation of plastics. History Plastic Omnium was founded by Pierre Burelle in 1946. It began making plastic steering columns for Renault, but soon exten ...

logo, 1966 *

logo, 1966 (introduced in 1972) *

New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...

R40 car, whose slanted-front end design had to be retrofitted with guide and guard rails, along with pantograph gates due to safety concerns, 1967. * Lucky Strike holiday carton, box art, Christmas 1967 * Chubb logo, 1968 * Elna's Lotus compact sewing machine; in the Design Collection of New York's

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

(MOMA), 1968. *

SPAR SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

logo, 1968 * Stiffle Lamps Tension Pole Lamps 1970s *

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

eagle logo, 1970 *

logo, 1971 *

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

interior, 1975 *

space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station ...

, first interior design standards for space travel including a porthole to allow a view of earth from space, interior designs and color schemes, a private area for each crew member to relax and sleep, food table and trays, coveralls, garment storage modules, designs for waste management *

Norfolk Scope Norfolk Scope is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia, comprising an 11,000-person arena, a 2,500-person theater known as Chrysler Hall, a exhibition hall and a 600-car parking garage. The arena was designed by Italian architect/engin ...

, hallmark and logo

Gallery

File:1932 Hupmobile (5492799095).jpg , 1932

Model 222-F "cyclefenders" File:1935 Hupmobile Model 527T sedan (19361573002).jpg , 1935 Hupmobile Model 527-T sedan Aerodynamic File:NCTM Lincoln.jpg , A 1946

File:1953 Studebaker Commander.jpg , 1953

Starliner hardtop File:LC-USZC4-3923 Avanti Loewy.jpg , A concept sketch of the 1963 Avanti by Loewy File:1958 International Metro Van in Portland in 2012, front.jpg , A preserved Metro Van in 2012 File:PCC Cleveland.jpg, A PCC (

Presidents' Conference Committee The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the ...

) streetcar in Cleveland in 1950 File:Le Creuset.jpg ,

dishes File:Thermos flask, Model 3750, designed by Raymond Loewy, American Thermos Bottle Corporation, 1937, chrome-plated brass, aluminum, bakelite - Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln - Cologne, Germany - DSC09512.jpg, 1937

Thermos A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an insulating storage vessel that greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or cooler than the flask's surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewa ...

flask File:Television set, Model T 54, designed by Raymond Loewy, The Hallicrafters, USA, 1948, case made from lacquered iron sheet - Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln - Cologne, Germany - DSC09654.jpg, 1948 Midel T-54 television set File:Elna Lotus ouverte.jpg , Elna ''Lotus'' portable folding

sewing machine A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with Thread (yarn), thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. ...

File:Anscoflex II (John Kratz).jpg, Anscoflex II File:Leisurama house in Montauk.jpg , A Leisurama house in

Montauk, New York Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318. The ...

; Leisurama houses could be purchased at

department store. File:Bar Counter at TWA Flight Center, 1962.jpg , Union News coffee shop at the

, IdlewildAirport (JFK) File:Boeing 787-10 rollout with President Trump (33150979675) crop.jpg ,

with Loewy-designed

File:CGMark_W.png , The United States Coast Guard, USCG Racing Stripe logo (1964) File:Exxon logo.svg , The

logo, designed in 1966, introduced in 1972

Published books

* ''The Locomotive: Its Aesthetics'' (1937) * ''Never Leave Well Enough Alone'' (1951, autobiography) * ''Industrial Design'' (1979)

References

Notes Further reading * Bayley, Stephen. ''The Lucky Strike Packet'' (Design Classics Series), Art Books International Ltd (1998) * Byars, Mel. "Loewy, Raymond" in ''American National Biography'', American Council of Learned Societies (2000) * Porter, Glenn. ''Raymond Loewy Designs for the Consumer Culture'', Hagley Museum and Library (2002) * Schoenberger, Angela. ''Raymond Loewy: Pioneer of American Industrial Design'', Prestel Publishing (1991) * Trétiack, Phillippe. ''Raymond Loewy and Streamlined Design'', New York: Universe (1999) * Wall, John. ''Streamliner: Raymond Loewy and Image-making in the Age of American Industrial Design'', Johns Hopkins University Press (2018)

Hagley Museum and Library The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Po ...

. This collection consists of Loewy's personal papers, business records, and materials generated and maintained by Loewy's New York Public Relations Department as well as some of Viola Loewy's personal papers.
Raymond Loewy Collection of Photographs and Audiovisual Materials
(1905–1980) at

. This collection is composed of images of design work Loewy and his firm conducted for corporate American and foreign clients; Loewy's personal photographs; and his speeches and interviews.
Raymond Loewy miscellany
(1936–1995) at

. The collection consists of magazine advertisements, photos and postcard views of Loewy designs, product brochures; and a group of publications by and about Loewy. There is also a small group of artifacts. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loewy, Raymond 1893 births 1986 deaths American industrial designers American people in rail transportation American people of Austrian-Jewish descent French Roman Catholics French designers French emigrants to the United States French military personnel of World War I French people of Austrian-Jewish descent Logo designers Modernist designers People in the automobile industry Artists from Palm Springs, California Engineers from Paris Window dressers Catholics from California French stamp designers