Baranger Motion Displays: R.F. Collection

A stupendously produced introduction to the “Motion Display” machines of midcentury America

This gorgeous, oversize volume documents the Baranger Motion Displays of the R.F. Collection housed at the Vitra Design Museum. “Motion Displays,” as they were known, were conceived as eye-catching and novel moving objects, which were used in jewelers’ shop-window displays―primarily in the US―to attract customers. The Baranger Motion Displays were produced by Baranger Studios in South Pasadena, CA, between 1937 and 1957 and were lent to thousands of jewelers’ shops over the years. Primarily during the 1990s, Rolf Fehlbaum, Vitra Chairman Emeritus and founder of the Vitra Design Museum, worked to assemble a carefully selected and comprehensive collection of these objects in Weil am Rhein.
With large-scale illustrations of the Motion Displays and an atmospheric photo essay featuring black-and-white details of the objects, the book provides an unprecedented and in-depth view into this collection. In an accompanying essay, Bill Shaffer traces the success story of the displays and sheds light on the significance of the red cases in which they were delivered to the jewelers. In order for readers to be able to experience the wonders of these moving objects for themselves, each Motion Display has been given a QR code in the book which links to an entertaining video clip of the display in action.