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Faster, Cheaper, Newer, More: Revolutions of 1848

June 4, 2004 - January 30, 2005 (new closing date)

Museum: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

Location: The Nancy and Edwin Marks Gallery, First Floor

This exhibition features objects that illuminate the rich history of design during a period of rapid political, technological, and social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Themes include: The Industrial Age (new materials and new manufacturing processes), The Great Exhibition of 1851, Media and the Metropolis (new printing techniques, marketing campaigns, and celebrities), Photography, and Communications (telegraphy, electricity, and utilities). Highlights include a rare 1848 book of drawings and notes for the punch-card-operated Jacquard loom (a precursor of modern computers) and one of the first steam radiators made of cast iron. This is the second installation in the Nancy and Edwin Marks Gallery.