R 50 ^{± 1950}

The range of functions that the R 50 electrical household appliance combines is surprising, to say the least. On the central motor, whose streamlined design is typical of the 1950s, the consumer could mount accessories that transformed the object from an upright vacuum cleaner into a sander, a mixer, a hairdryer and a paint sprayer! The Dutch manufacturer Rudolf Blik ­released an identical machine on the market in 1950: the Ruton Robot or R 50. The R 50 made by Vox may be the same machine, but it was made under another brand name for the Belgian consumer. One way or another, both machines entered design ­history as intriguing objects that had little ­success. Perhaps because this spectrum of uses proved to be ­psychologically irreconcilable for the consumer?

SOURCES

Timo de Rijk, Het elektrische huis. Vormgeving en acceptatie van ­elektrische huishoudelijke apparaten in Nederland, 010, Rotterdam, 1998, pp. 226-227, 236-237; Met dank aan Timo de Rijk.