Vintage Technology and Design Articles
Explore typewriters, cameras, lighting, and appliances by Olivetti, IBM, Leica, Polaroid, Braun, and more, alongside vintage technology and design resources.
Birth of the Auto Industry
Very long and very interesting article from 1923 National Geographic about the birth of the automobile industry.
Danish Modern Design
Funky Danish modern design article
Modern Design Museums and Auctions
Museums of Modern and Contemporary Art and Auctions
Modern Furniture and Accessories
Vintage Modern Furniture, Retro Design and Contemporary Art Furniture
Modern Design Stores and Merchants
An archived directory of modern design stores and merchants, preserving the original list of furniture, art, and design retailers.
Olivetti Valentine portable typewriter
Ettore Sottsass and Perry King’s Olivetti Valentine pairs a red plastic body with a carrying case, bringing 1960s color to portable writing.
Olivetti Lettera 22 portable typewriter
Marcello Nizzoli’s 1950 Olivetti Lettera 22 combines a low enameled-metal body and compact keyboard in a typewriter designed for portable use.
Olivetti Lexikon 80 typewriter
The 1948 Olivetti Lexikon 80 by Marcello Nizzoli encloses an office typewriter’s mechanism within a sculpted enameled-aluminum housing.
IBM Selectric typewriter
IBM’s Selectric typewriter, introduced in 1961 with industrial design by Eliot Noyes, replaced individual type bars with an interchangeable spherical element.
Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera
The Polaroid SX-70, introduced in 1972, folds a single-lens-reflex instant camera into a slim package with contrasting metal and leather surfaces.
Leica M3 rangefinder camera
The Leica M3 of 1954 combines a compact 35 mm camera body, interchangeable lenses, and a unified viewing and rangefinder system.
Arco floor lamp
The Castiglioni brothers’ 1962 Arco floor lamp carries a domed reflector on a sweeping steel stem balanced by a block of Carrara marble.
Tizio desk lamp
Richard Sapper’s Tizio lamp, produced by Artemide from 1972, uses counterbalanced arms to position a small light source above a work surface.
Braun HLD 4 hair dryer
Dieter Rams’s Braun HLD 4 hair dryer of 1970 places its fan and controls inside a compact rounded plastic case offered in bright colors.