Toilets, Toasters and Telephones: The How and Why of Everday Objects

Who invented the toilet? How did the telephone get its shape? Why are the letters on a computer keyboard arranged the way they are? Who decides? In this fascinating history of everyday objects, Susan Goldman Rubin explains how manufacturers realized that well-designed products made more money; why the shape of an object depends on the materials and technology available; and that some designs just can't be improved upon. Filled with entertaining anecdotes, remarkable facts, and definitely user-friendly, Toilets, Toasters, & Telephones, with 30 photographs and 13 elegant drawings by Elsa Warnick, is a delightful narrative of the history of some of the familiar objects we see all around us and the inspired geniuses who are responsible for what they look like.