In anticipation of the newest exhibit, Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller, opening this Saturday, Chief Curator Marc Greuther sat down with Carrie Nolan to talk about mid-century, modern design and how someone could incorporate it into their own home décor.

When you think mid-century modern design you might have visions of kidney-shaped tables or funky looking lamps—something quirky, spare or uncomfortable. But, it’s so much more.

Or sometimes much less: take Charles and Ray Eames for example. Their chairs are simple and yet comfortable. They adopted a reductive approach—simplifying shapes and reducing components—but their work always remained rooted in addressing needs, not aiming for stylistic expression. In a sense they were traditionalists, working closely with materials and tools. Ray’s design lens was particularly attuned to abstraction and sculptural form; her husband Charles always retained an architectural perspective. But they were also non-traditional as designers, not only in the breadth of their activities—filmmaking, exhibit design, toys, fabric and graphic design—but also in the way they cross-referenced their work, enriching their work in one field by their work in others. Together—and with the manufacturing and development commitment of the Herman Miller company—they created some of the most revered furniture designs of all time.

There’s no denying the quirkiness factor in the George Nelson-designed Marshmallow Sofa. With this design, Nelson—who as design director at Herman Miller brought Charles and Ray Eames into the company’s fold—created one of the most iconic designs of the era. It is more comfortable than it looks, but the strong visual presence and uncompromising structural statement established was what established it as a design classic.

Now, how would someone not familiar with mid-century, modern design—or even someone who is—translate this into their own home?

Marc’s advice: Do what works for you. The Eames’ residence, he explains, is a box-like structure built largely from industrial components. Now preserved, it was furnished extensively with Charles and Ray’s own designs, along with select pieces by other designers. But it isn’t a harsh space: there is much decoration and pattern—plenty of fabrics, ornaments, plants—and plenty of light. And where appropriate it is cozy and intimate. Nothing could be further than the notion of Mid-Century Modern design as something sparse, spare and uncomfortable. They used their chosen furnishings wisely and weren’t afraid to mingle organic materials, folk art, fiberglass and plywood.

Marc says try to avoid a severely curated environment—the sort that’s built-up from recognized classics but that doesn’t serve your needs. The best designs from one era have a place with the best designs of other eras. He referenced the 1956 Eames lounge chair that is displayed on the Museum floor. It’s padded and cushy, the lines of design are simple, minimal and classic—it could go with any number of other period’s furnishings.

Also, don’t judge a piece of furniture superficially: fact is, some famous modern furniture designs are renowned more for their designer than their ability to offer comfort; at the same time, many great but anonymous designs from the era might make up for lack of known apparent pedigree with a welcome embrace. So try out potential purchases: start with how well the furniture works as furniture—sit in them, don’t just be seduced by a name or put off by the lack of one.

Starting February 6, check out our newest exhibit, Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller. We have partnered with the Muskegon Museum of Art to bring together some of the best mid-century, modern design furniture of all time – including the designs of influencers Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick who created the Aeron chair. I hope you come out to see what we’ve chosen – even the famous Marshmallow Sofa will be there – and maybe take some inspiration for your own style.

Also, you won’t want to miss the audio tour of the exhibit, narrated by none other than Marc Greuther – this is your chance to experience what I experienced talking with him in his office. (You can get a complimentary cell phone rental at any ticket counter.)

Every month our curators spotlight a different item from The Henry Ford’s collections for our Pic of the Month.  This month, Cynthia Read Miller, Curator of Prints and Photographs, discusses the history of photobooth photography and the photobooth collection we posted on Flickr this fall.  Watch for a new collection of historic images on our Flickr page later this month.

Read January’s Pic of the Month

Pic of the Month archive



“Mattox House Chicken and Rice”

Yields: 6 portions

4# Boneless skinless chicken thighs, whole
1 small Spanish onion diced, medium
2 each red tomato diced, medium
2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
4 slices bacon, diced fine
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
2 Teaspoons ground black pepper
4 cups hot chicken stock
2 cups par boiled long grain rice

1. In a deep roasting pan add chicken, stock, bacon, butter, salt and pepper
2. Cover and cook for 25 minutes at 350F or until the chicken is cooked fully
3. Add remaining ingredients cover again and cook for 40 minutes at 350F or until the rice is tender

What do you get when you mix a war surplus fuel tank, an Oldsmobile engine, and a boatload of ingenuity? You get The Henry Ford’s latest automotive acquisition, the Lakester.

During World War II aircraft designers looking for ways to extend the range of fighter planes came up with the idea of hanging expendable auxiliary fuel tanks under the wings or fuselages of aircraft. These teardrop-shaped tanks could be jettisoned when they were empty. When Bill Burke, a California hot rodder serving in the Navy, saw some of these tanks on Guadalcanal, he thought they would make nifty bodies for streamlined racing cars. After the war, Burke put his idea into action.

Surplus drop tanks (also called wing tanks or belly tanks) were available for as little as $35. Burke squeezed an engine, driver’s seat, and running gear inside the tank, leaving the wheels and axles exposed. Burke raced the slick little car at El Mirage, a large, flat dry lake bed north of Los Angeles where hot rodders ran their vehicles in straight-away top speed runs against the clock. Other hot rodders soon copied Burke’s idea and over time the new cars came to be called “lakesters” because they were built to run at the dry lakes.

I have long wanted to add a lakester to The Henry Ford’s collection of race cars, because lakesters embody ingenuity and resourcefulness, and because they are peculiarly American. For years I have had my eye on one of the most successful and famous lakesters, a car built and driven by another California hot rodder, Tom Beatty. In 2009 the car came up for auction and we were finally able to acquire it.

Techno Talk Warning: the following paragraph is a technical description of Tom Beatty’s car for the benefit of “car geeks” (like the writer). If you are bored by discussions of chrome-moly tubing and swing axles, skip to the last paragraph. Part of the attraction of Tom Beatty’s car is its sheer technical virtuosity. It looks like lots of other belly tank lakesters, but underneath the aluminum teardrop it is very different. Most lakester builders used a simple parallel rail frame, but Beatty welded up a complex space frame from chrome-moly steel tubing. It was stiffer and safer in an accident. Most lakesters ran without a rear suspension, but Beatty devised a swing axle independent rear suspension that helped the car maintain traction over the sometimes rough dry lake surface, or at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Beatty was also one of the first hot rodders to experiment with supercharging, adapting GMC blowers to his flathead Ford engines. The car first ran at the 1951 Bonneville Speed Week, turning a top speed of 188.284 mph. Over the years Beatty kept improving the car, moving to supercharged Oldsmobile engines in 1959. By the time Beatty retired from racing after 1965 season, the lakester had gone 243.438 mph, and was the oldest car running at Bonneville.

As it sits on the floor of Henry Ford Museum, Tom Beatty’s car looks a little rough. The paint is chipped and the body is dinged. But it looks today much as it did the last time it ran in anger at Bonneville, and we will not restore it. We will do only what is necessary to preserve it. After all, you don’t mess with an American original.

Ever wondered what their engines look like? All that V8 power or steam as some are, kept hidden until now. This weekend starts an event that’s a first for us. Something in all our 80 years we’ve never done before.

Starting tomorrow, Jan. 9, for the first time ever – we’re popping the hoods on over 50 cars in the Museum. The definitive American muscle cars, European ingenuity, early steam power, concept cars – it’s all being opened for Engines Exposed in Henry Ford Museum.

Hours and hours have been spent by our curators, conservators and volunteers to clean, prep and reposition these cars for the ultimate viewing. For the devoted gear head, this rare opportunity is a must-see chronicle of automotive history.

Just a teaser of some of the cars you will see – but seeing these engines in person is the best way to get a glimpse of car heaven.

1956 Chrysler 300B Stock Car

1967 Ford Mark IV Le Mans Racing Car

Don’t miss out; we may never do this again! Have a great weekend!

Have some great photos of the cars? Post them to our Facebook Fan page – www.facebook.com/thehenryford. Not a fan? Make sure you become one to get all our updates with the goings-on at The Henry Ford. You can even follow us on Twitter at @thehenryford.

Engines Exposed is free with admission to Henry Ford Museum and free to members. (If you’d like to become a member, visit here.)

Henry Ford Museum is filled with design. Autos, toys, furniture — even our beloved Wienermobile. In each case, someone designed it to look and perform the way it does for a very specific reason.

For 11 weeks, February 6-April 25, we’ll celebrate the world of design, from the magnificent to the mundane, from things that startle us to things we barely notice. In exhibits, tours and even a lecture series, we’ll explore how designers continually reshape the world around us.

The Herman Miller name is hardly new to visitors at The Henry Ford.

Work by Herman Miller designers such as Gilbert Rohde, George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames have long been integrated into our furniture exhibit. Charles and Ray’s work on chair design for Herman Miller is the subject of a new mini-exhibit in Henry Ford Museum. Earlier this year, the design archive of the late Bill Stumpf — co-creator of the renowned Aeron chair — was donated to the museum by his family.

But our connection to Herman Miller runs even deeper than that. In 1988, we became the lead institution in The Herman Miller Consortium, a group of 13 art and historical institutions that share approximately 800 artifacts collected by Herman Miller, Inc. As the lead institution, The Henry Ford maintains the database of the collection and is the first museum offered new additions.

So while the exhibit Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller is a natural extension of what we have been pursuing for decades, it also takes us into some areas we haven’t explored greatly in the past.

This exhibition offers a number of perspectives on the Herman Miller achievement — an achievement rooted in a combination of extraordinary vision and practical realization. The company’s commitment to addressing real design problems — always with an insistence on achievable, affordable and durable solutions — continues to this day.

Herman Miller is a company with an august heritage, but a heritage that points it to the future rather than mooring it in the past. In his introduction to the new edition of John Berry’s book Herman Miller: The Purpose of Design, Eames Demetrios said, “The chair that Charles and Ray were designing was the chair that Herman Miller makes tomorrow. The future is implicit in every piece.” He continued: “As Ray said, they wanted to do chairs where the act of mass-production made the chair better.”

The Henry Ford is proud to present this innovative touring exhibition that explores the problem-solving design process employed at the world-renowned West Michigan-based furniture company Herman Miller, Inc. Developed in collaboration with The Muskegon Museum of Art, the exhibition draws upon The Henry Ford’s Herman Miller Design Collection, a comprehensive archive of the company’s innovative processes and products, most of which have never been on public view.

The exhibition was developed by guest curator and design authority John R. Berry, who presents viewers with four case studies that embody the problem-solving ethos of Herman Miller — stories that tell how good design explores, inquires, engages and endures.

“These stories are intended to provide inspiration to us as individuals and as organizations to find new ways to re-generate, adapt and grow in these times of economic and environmental change,” Berry wrote in his curator’s statement.

“Additionally, ‘art’ and ‘design’ are often interchanged when they actually represent different purposes. Art is a form of self-expression. Artists choose subject matter, materials and media to share their reviews with others. Design is about meeting needs and is focused on serving others. Art and good design share the same concerns for positive aesthetics.”

Berry has organized the exhibition around four areas of exploration in our living and working environments: ergonomics, white collar work, graphic communications and the home.

Berry’s background made him an ideal resource in putting together this exhibition. He was involved with Herman Miller for 16 years, including a period of time as vice president of communications and liaison with the Eames Office as well as through his interaction with George Nelson and other major designers.

Berry founded a national professional design association, led the public relations introduction of the Aeron chair and generated recognition for Herman Miller as one of Fortune magazine’s Most Admired Companies in America.

Today, Berry is the director of Design West Michigan and a national and international authority on the work of George Nelson and Ray and Charles Eames.

Pork and Apple Pie
As served at the Eagle Tavern, Greenfield Village
The Henry Ford
Serves six

3 each Bacon slices diced
1 Tablespoon of butter
3 Tablespoon of flour
4# Pork diced 1 inch by 1 inch
3 Apples peeled cored and cut into wedges
1 cup carrot diced
1 cup onions diced
1 cup celery diced
As needed Kosher salt
As needed White pepper ground
1 teaspoon thyme fresh chopped
1/8 cup sherry
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon ground
1 Quart apple cider
2 Quart pork or chicken stock or broth
1 each Baked nine inch pie shell

• Season the pork with salt and pepper and set aside
• Starting with a cool pan, add bacon and place over medium heat. Cook until the bacon is crisp and the oils are rendered out
• Add the pork to the bacon fat and cook until the bacon is golden brown
• Add the butter, carrot, onion, celery and thyme; cook until the vegetables are tender. Add in the flour and cook while stirring for about 2 minutes
• Add the sherry, cider, cinnamon and broth, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes until the pork becomes tender and the broth has thickened. Season with salt and pepper if needed
• Serve in a deep bowl with crumbled pie shell on top.

We use Michigan raised apples, cider, and locally raised natural pork in our pork pie and recommend anyone who cooks this recipe to do the same for best results.

Grab the family and some friends, and come down and celebrate with us!

Santa, of course, will only be here until December 24 – he has a big night ahead of him that night!

Happy holidays, everyone!

Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It’s for creative, resourceful people of all ages and backgrounds who like to tinker and love to make things. So much to see, you will need 2 days to see it all!

Basically, Maker Faire Detroit will be the ultimate tinkerer’s event, at the home of America’s greatest tinkerers and innovators. 

We’ll pass along more details as we get closer to the event, so stay tuned!

This Friday, November 27 kicks off two of our seasonal daytime celebrations – the Holiday Homes Tour in Greenfield Village, and Holidays in Henry Ford Museum. Both offer a bevy of holiday delights for the senses, so here’s a quick run-down of what you can expect to experience during your visit to The Henry Ford this season.

Throughout the season, each weekend day until the end of December, the homes of Greenfield Village are filled with the sights and sounds of Christmas past. Of course, everything is decorated to the appropriate period of the home, so look for the subtle differences between each abode.

But one thing you can’t miss is the delectable scent of freshly-baked goods wafting through the homes – stop in and chat with some of our costumed presenters to find out how the home’s inhabitants prepared meals for the holiday season. They can’t offer you a taste, but to borrow a phrase, smells are free!

(By the way, there’s only one more week until one of our most popular programs, Holiday Nights in Greenfield Village, opens; make sure to get your tickets now – dates do sell out!)

On your way in to Henry Ford Museum, you’ll find freshly-cut greens for sale – everything from roping to wreaths to Christmas trees of every shape and size. You’ll probably notice the scent of these greens almost as soon as you see them; we work with a Nova Scotia tree grower raising balsam firs, so everything has that classic spicy scent.

And for some tips on how to decorate with all that gorgeous greenery, check out our video for creating a simple yet beautiful doorway entrance.

Henry Ford Museum is completely decked out for the season, including two huge can’t-miss elements: Our 25-foot Christmas tree in the Museum Plaza, completely covered in lights and American-made ornaments, and a model train circling a massive LEGO train display of Detroit’s downtown area, built by the Michigan LEGO Users Group.

And it isn’t really the holidays until you visit Santa! He’s in a new location this year, near the entrance to the Pewter aisle, so make sure you stop by and tell him your Christmas wish list. But, if you happen to miss him (he is a busy guy this time of year, you know!), don’t worry – you can always drop a letter to him in a mailbox made of LEGO bricks.

From all of us at The Henry Ford, we wish you a wonderful and warm holiday season – we hope to see you here soon!