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Do you know Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, the program that raised an entire generation of Americans? If you're not familiar with the name today, you'll probably have a better idea of this cross-section of American television culture after watching the Fred Rogers film - released this fall with Tom Hanks. It is an educational program for children created and performed by a Presbyterian pastor from Pittsburgh who with his innate friendliness and homeopathy has conveyed to millions of young listeners a very frank information based on kindness and compassion. Let's leave the film to investigate the details of the series, we are interested in having a look at the set of the program that has much to say about today's trends.
During his 31 series, from 1962 to 2001, Mr Rogers made his debut in a simple house furnished according to the new large-scale furniture production. A large room with wooden walls served as a casing for solid furniture and upholstery in soft, dull colors. A single sofa with green, red and brown squares, reminiscent of the 50's armchairs of intOndo, is the real protagonist of this environment. It is a Hide-A-Bed produced by Simmons in 1965, one of the first sofa beds that can be customized both in terms of fabric and thickness of the mattress. In front of him there is a coffee table in shaped solid wood, with a comfortable bottle holder compartment included, then replicated in many other styles.
These are objects that are not easily available today and are almost collectors' items. Yet in the 50s and 60s they were the emblem of the middle-class American house. They made the fortune of those U.S. craftsmen who, aiming at the industrial market, have expanded their offer by introducing standardized customizations. It is almost like thinking of a sort of overseas Ikea.
We can also think that at the time of Mr Rogers' neighborhood in Italy, a program equally dear to Italian families was broadcast, the Carousel. Although in this case, we can say that an entire generation has grown up watching this show, the Carousel was created exclusively for advertising purposes. Since the law did not provide for announcements during the films, in 1957 Rai developed a special television format. The main rule was that the part of the show (the "piece", lasting 1 minute and 45 seconds), had to be strictly separated and distinguishable from the purely advertising part (the "tail", lasting 30 seconds). Among the most famous advertisements remains that of the Bialetti moka, an in surpassed object of Italian design and still unfailing in the kitchen of every Italian. And it is precisely for the Carousel that Paul Campani designs the little man with the mustache that is known throughout the world today as the icon of the Bialetti company.
All this to give you an idea of how much television culture has participated in the spread of industrial design in the past. Today a lot has changed: it is the advertising itself that is personalized about us and the times when the family used to gather in front of the television waiting for their favorite program to be shown. There is no longer any need to wait, if you really want to see a film or series, and yet - to our immense satisfaction - what remains trendy are vintage furniture and Italian design. We continue to say proudly to our children: "All in bed after Carousel!"
