General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

GLASS WITH METAL SOLEPLATE, SYNTHETIC KNOB & PLUG, FIBRE COVERED CORD, POSSIBLY ASBESTOS BETWEEN SOLEPLATE & GLASS

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

23.0 cm

Width

9.9 cm

Height

14.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Domestic Technology

Category

Laundry

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

SAUNDERS

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Unknown

Canada

Unknown

Function

USED TO PRESS OR SMOOTH FABRICS, ESPECIALLY CLOTHING

Technical

IRONS WERE APPARENTLY 1ST MANUFACTURED OF GLASS IN THE 1940'S, IN AN ATTEMPT TO CONSERVE METAL FOR USE IN WORLD WAR 2/ ANOTHER GLASS IRON, WHICH HAD A GLASS SOLEPLATE, WAS 1ST MANUFACTURED IN 1943, BUT NEITHER IT, NOR THIS IRON, APPEAR TO HAVE BECOME WIDELY POPULAR. From the Corning Museum of Glass: "A streamlined, Machine Age design, the “Silver Streak” iron has become an icon of mid-20th-century American design. The sleek form echoes the design of the Burlington Railroad’s famous stainless steel passenger train, called the Pioneer Zephyr, which set a new speed record and was featured in the 1934 movie The Silver Streak. The iron’s colourless, ergonomically shaped glass handle was seamlessly attached to the base. The iron was available in jewel-tone colors of red (for example, 2005.4.32), blue, green, amber, silver, and gold, colored with paint emulsion on the interior of the glass body. Metal shortages during World War II spurred innovative designs using alternative materials. The Corning Glass Works investigated substitutions of glass for metal, creating glass versions of such common items as thimbles, bullets, and coins. Heat resistant Pyrex borosilicate glass, developed in 1915 for bakeware, was ideal for an iron. Borosilicate glass blanks for the iron bodies, produced by Corning Glass Works, were sent to the Saunders Machine and Tool Corporation, which mounted the glass to chrome-plated metal sole plates and attached electrical dials and fittings. Sadly, the “Silver Streak” iron was not manufactured commercially until 1946, after the war had ended, and it was produced for only one year."

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

ON BACK 'Silver Streak'/ ON BASE 'SAUNDERS SINCE 1858/ MODEL 1038/ 1000 WATTS/ 110-120 VOLTS A.C. ONLY'/ IN GLASS AT BACK 'PYREX'

Missing

N/A

Finish

SOLEPLATE HAS CHROME-LIKE FINISH/ BODY OF IRON IS RED WITH CLEAR GLASS HANDLE/ RED, SILVER & BLACK PTS

Decoration

N/A