pa href=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/Picture%206.png”img alt=”Picture 6.png” src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/assets_c/2010/03/Picture 6-thumb-468×359-2614.png” width=”468″ height=”359″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //aemRussell Flinchum with Vim Da Pug (American Kennel Club name: Janis’s Dagobert Vim)/em/p
pemRaleigh is a Smooth Coat Fox Terrier interested in the influence of dogs on Industrial Design. When she is not busy looking for a fox to hunt, she helps her owner with her a href=”http://raleighpop.wordpress.com/”blog/a. This month, Raleigh met up with Pug-owner Russell Flinchum, design historian, teacher, curator and author of “Henry Dreyfuss, Industrial Designer: The Man in the Brown Suit.”/em/p
pWe’re in Russell Flinchum’s kitchen where he’s meticulously attending to what he calls, “the Pug routine,” a process of feeding his 13 year old dog, Vim Da Pug. As Vim hops around the trash can anxiously, Flinchum peels a hardboiled egg, discards the yolk, and plops the whites in the food dish. Next are the steamed broccoli and steamed chicken breast. Flinchum then becomes distractedmdash;on the counter by the bowl rests a new acquisition for the Industrial Design historian, an original Osterizer blender that he dates to 1946. He thinks it is the “Beehive” model, inspired by the 1937 Waring “Blendor,” endorsed by band leader Fred Waring himself. He flicks a switch to show off the powerful whirr of the motor, sending Vim into paroxysm of fury over the neglected food preparations. As the motor quiets, Flinchum tops off the food dish with a scoop of Eukanuba Reduced Fat Senior Formula Dry Food. It’s the bag that comes with a Pug on the front; the stocky breed makes a great advertisement for the dog on a diet./p
pimg alt=”Osterizer.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/Osterizer.jpg” width=”478″ height=”633″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” /emFlinchum favors design classics like this Osterizer blender /em/p
pAs Vim eats, we settle on the couch to discuss the topic at handmdash;dogs and industrial design. It’s no accident that the beige couch matches Vim’s fur; Flinchum’s waging a never-ending war with shedding. There are a million and one products made to remove pet fur, but Flinchum, design junkie though he is, isn’t interested. “Sticky tape,” he says, “works just fine.” Fair enough./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/dogs_on_design_raleigh_pop_interviews_russell_flinchum_16110.asp”(more…)/a
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