Vince Pitelka on tue 13 dec 05
> no vince - equipment enclosures were found to keep body parts out of the
> machinery. basic safety.
Steve -
Hey, you're pretty quick with the categorical denials. In this day and age
such equipment enclosures are certainly intended for safety, but as you
know, safety was not such a big concern in the early 20th century. If you
check your industrial history, you will find that streamlined coverings were
marketed as modern design, but in fact their origin was entirely to allow
the interior workings to be manufactured with less concern for aesthetic
design and finish, saving a great deal of money, increasing the profit
margin. Ours was not a litigious society at that time, so there was little
incentive to add cowling to increase safety. It's a very interesting
obscure fact of our industrial history. There's no safety issue with a
typewriter, but the ones with streamlined covering were a lot less expensive
to manufacture.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
| |
|
