Patrick Costello
Streamlined
On the left, the opulent art deco styling of the Duchess of Hamilton; on the right a Chrysler Airflow.
In 1939, No. 6229 Duchess of Hamilton became the most famous Princess Coronation of all time when she was shipped to America to take part in the New York World‘s Fair, renamed and numbered as Coronation. Art Deco was strongly adopted in the United States during the Great Depression for its practicality and simplicity, while still portraying a reminder of better times and the ‘American Dream.’ The 1939-40 Fair at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was Streamline Moderne's finest hour. Many countries around the world participated, and over 44 million people attended its exhibitions in two seasons.
When the Chrysler Airflow hit the streets in 1934 it was like nothing the American motorists had ever seen before. The Airflow made full use of new metal technology and streamline design to reinvent the car as a total design concept. Its in-line eight cylinder engine was suspended over the front wheels, its passengers cocooned between the axles, giving the smoothest ride on the market. In fact the Airflow was everything we now take for granted in a car. Perhaps that's why it ws a design classic and a commercial flop. The American public just was not ready for such a radical design. Airflow production ceased in 1937.
Streamlined
On the left, the opulent art deco styling of the Duchess of Hamilton; on the right a Chrysler Airflow.
In 1939, No. 6229 Duchess of Hamilton became the most famous Princess Coronation of all time when she was shipped to America to take part in the New York World‘s Fair, renamed and numbered as Coronation. Art Deco was strongly adopted in the United States during the Great Depression for its practicality and simplicity, while still portraying a reminder of better times and the ‘American Dream.’ The 1939-40 Fair at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was Streamline Moderne's finest hour. Many countries around the world participated, and over 44 million people attended its exhibitions in two seasons.
When the Chrysler Airflow hit the streets in 1934 it was like nothing the American motorists had ever seen before. The Airflow made full use of new metal technology and streamline design to reinvent the car as a total design concept. Its in-line eight cylinder engine was suspended over the front wheels, its passengers cocooned between the axles, giving the smoothest ride on the market. In fact the Airflow was everything we now take for granted in a car. Perhaps that's why it ws a design classic and a commercial flop. The American public just was not ready for such a radical design. Airflow production ceased in 1937.