Children - Lesson 5: how a little glass saved a country

Child

Hi. As much as we all like fine art, there’s something equally amazing about common objects in our homes. They have important stories to tell, too. They are useful and beautiful, too. And this lesson shares a story of a simple object that had a big impact on an entire nation.

Adult/Teacher

In this final lesson of this unit (and the last of all the lessons, if you went through the course from start to finish), the child can learn about a simple and wonderful object that impacted a nation in a dark time. After you’re done, move on to a final project that brings together everything the child has learned in Art at Home. The link is at the bottom of this page.

How a little glass saved a country

After World War II ended for Finland in 1944 (the final peace treaty was signed in 1947) , the country was in rough shape. The war left it struggling to regain its footing. The country needed to absorb between 300,000-400,000 refugees from the Soviet Union. It was forced to give 10% of its territory and pay war reparations to the Soviet Union, as well. Industries that Finland had traditionally relied upon for its economic health—timber, shipbuilding, and mining—were in a sorry state that required modernization. The nation began an extensive task of removing mines on land and at sea, a laborious operation that lasted until 1950. There were energy shortages and many challenges. Inflation struck, which caused Finland additional problems with its currency.

In Finland at the time, there was a young designer named Kaj Franck. He was born in 1911. After the war, Franck felt a strong sense of responsibility to his country. He felt that it was his role as a designer to help rebuild Finland. He saw that returning soldiers and their young families needed common goods for their homes. He saw that older Finns had household objects that were destroyed in the war and needed replacement. People didn’t have much money, so whatever he designed would need to be inexpensive. Ultimately, he wanted to do something that could help all of Europe. Meanwhile, manufacturing in Finland was old and dilapidated. To make a difference, he would need to retool manufacturing industries. For a young man, this was an ambitious dream. He was just a designer. What could he do?

Franck had worked as a designer of interiors and textiles, but in 1945, he was given the opportunity to design objects for the dining table: glasses, plates, pitchers, tea kettles, salt and pepper shakers, etc. He was made art director of Arabia, a ceramic manufacturer. His first set of tableware was so popular that it sold 25 million pieces—the entire population of Finland was fewer than 5 million people. The objects could go directly from the oven to the table. It was the first tableware to be sold as individual pieces. Everything was stackable. All the lids were interchangeable. Its simple shapes and solid colors made it easy to mix with customers’ existing objects.

Image above: Kaj Franck: Designer, published by The Museum of Modern Art. Link.

Franck was as innovative in manufacturing as he was in design. He championed workers at every stage of production: The worker on the factory floor was just as important to him as the executive in the office. He later became the artistic director of a glass factory named Nuutajärvi, and his philosophies of modern, clean, and innovative products mirrored his earlier work in ceramics.

Design industries in Finland rebounded and flourished. They became powerhouses and exported all over the world. Did Kaj Franck actually save Finland? Well, no. Not exactly. But through brilliant design, he rebuilt industries that helped the country stabilize, modernize, and prosper. You might not think of a designer as someone capable of bringing about such change on such a large scale, but Franck did.

You can read more about Kaj Franck here.

You can learn more about Finnish design here, “Celebrating 100 years of innovative Finnish design.”

What other examples can you think of that show how a designer can affect society? How about inventors?

How does this story change the value you might place on common objects like a glass or a plate?