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Parts, Transplants
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 Munson's career path falls in line with the Eichler model of home integration. What's more, the forward-thinking Eichler hired her because she was simply effective -- the same reason he made many of the choices that shaped his unique homes. "Form follows function," Munson said recently of Thermador's success, "and they functioned very well. "In all my years with Eichler, I never saw anything but Thermador in an Eichler home." The built-in oven and detached cooktop range have become the norm rather than the exception, while Eichler's integrated living spaces have permeated most new and remodel housing designs. A glance at any architecture publication will indicate one of the hottest trends in home renewal today is knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining or living room to create a large integrated space. With the help of Thermador, Joe Eichler sparked that trend 50 years ago. The Thermador company started in 1916 as Thermador Electric Products, producing, in addition to a line of irons and other domestic tools, a cow-milking stool that warmed the farmer's posterior during the cold months. In the early 1930s, the company began manufacturing electric wall and space heaters, introducing zone heating. By the mid '30s, it began producing electronic components such as transformers and voltage regulation equipment for radios. 
During World War II Thermador manufactured almost exclusively for the military. It developed sealed transformers that could keep radios working in the humidity of the South Pacific and the aridity of the African front. As the war drew to a close, the company began seeking civil applications. With its capacity to produce stamp-ed-steel and electric heating elements as well as sophisticated electronics, and noticing the boom in suburban housing, Thermador moved into kitchen appliances. The company's first 'Bilt-in' oven, as they were known in the advertising campaign, was the model WO-16, which measured 22 inches across and had about two cubic feet of capacity. They came in stainless steel, with a line of gauges that included a clock, a thermostat, and selector to determine bake, broil, or time bake. The straight, streamlined design, metallic finish, and round, glassed-in gauges were all design elements lifted from military aircraft of World War II. As America entered the space age, design trends followed suit, and Thermador embodied those trends. Its control panel reminded one of the cockpit of a plane; its aerodynamic design mirrored that of new airliners and automobiles. "Everybody coming back from the war was used to looking at dials and gauges, whether on an instrument panel in a plane or the controls of a radio," said 'Ric Coggins, southwest regional manager of operations for Freed Appliance Distributors, Thermador's largest national distributor. Coggins also prides himself as being an avid historian on the Thermador company. Thermador streamlined its design early on, starting in 1947, but by the middle and late 1950s minimalism was the rage. Eichler homes themselves represent a major step towards a minimalist aesthetic with their use of straight lines and built-in fixtures and appliances. Part of this design scheme was the color, or lack thereof, with which Thermadors were finished. "I remember he liked the color very much," said former Eichler construction superintendent Bill Wills on why Joe Eichler had selected Thermador. "The thing with Eichler was that if he really liked something, he would never change it." All Thermadors at that time came in the same stainless, medium-brush finish that dominates residential and commercial kitchens today. 
In the early '60s Thermador experimented with tinting their trademark stainless steel, but their next truly innovative move with color was the introduction of black glass in the 1965 models. After a hundred years of white appliances, and a brief dip into tones like mint or beige in the '40s, Americans finally had color choices that would remain both bold and classic. The art deco movement that swept the design world between the two world wars set designers up for minimalism, but until World War II, a heavy, solid feel remained popular. Though the technology existed to mount an oven in the wall, trends ran against that in favor of a detached, heavy-looking contraption on legs. During the war the airplane emerged as the coolest thing in the world, and designers soon picked up on its streamlined style. The difference between the wall oven and the previously developed floor models is primarily one of height. No significant technological advances had to come about to allow Thermador to install an oven at arm level. They were just the first ones to do it. The ovens and ranges, while revolutionary in their design and installation, remained pretty much standard in their engineering. What they revolutionized was not what families cook, nor how the food gets hot, but rather how they live while cooking. For homes that were marketed as the basis of a life-style, the split oven and range made a smart choice. For Eichler, they dovetailed well with "bringing the outside in and the inside out," as Catherine Munson points out. The heavily styled appliances supported the Eichler lifestyle because of their obscuring of boundaries. With its simple innovations-in-design, Thermador, much like Eichler, helped begin a trend toward utilizing the living space for actually living instead of just for sleeping and storing things. "Previous to Eichler homes, kitchens were their own distinct space," said Coggins. "Typically, in a wealthy or more affluent house, the kitchen was a utilitarian room, separate from the rest of the house, that only the domestic staff entered. What a novel concept to pull the kitchen into the house and make cooking part of entertaining." Even small, suburban homes of the time had isolated kitchens, walled off from the formal dining and sitting rooms and accessed by swinging doors. The design and installation of the Thermador appliances blurred the line between working in the kitchen and living there as a room in the house. The separate electric cooktop range, a Thermador invention first introduced in 1947, allowed for more than one person to participate in the cooking. The elevated oven made baking less labor intensive than with floor models. The modern design made the appliances part of an attractive surrounding rather than a utilitarian kitchen. |
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With the oven removed from the cooktop, it was possible to install this formerly cumbersome appliance anywhere in the kitchen, paving the way for the swing-out table, a feature common to many Eichlers, which integrated the eating table and stove. This island fixture was typically placed at the entry point of the kitchen, dividing the room from the rest of the house. But since it did not stretch from wall to wall, or up to the ceiling, it left the space open and continuous. 
The cooktop could also be installed in a serving counter or pony wall, allowing the mother to cook while watching and playing with her children, or the chef to face the guests and be involved in the party. These connected kitchens usually blended with a dining/family room to create a large, comfortable space focused on eating, drinking, and socializing. Since most household chores tend to take place in or at least in association with the kitchen, Eichler's concept of blending leisure and work comes through strongly there. While entertaining, hosts could spend considerable time in the kitchen without missing a step. The Eichler model brought the party to the host. "Everybody could gather in the kitchen, crack a beer, cook a steak. It was almost primitive -- a campfire kind of thing," Coggins said. With the nation flocking toward the suburbs, gatherings within the home began to take the place of nights at the supper club or bar. Eichlers were built for socializing and allowed middle-class people to entertain in a natural style all their own, rather than hosting knock-offs of more affluent gatherings. Built-in appliances brought with them practical improvements as well as stylistic ones. The new ovens came with warming drawers to keep food at a serving temperature. The range, in the absence of a 450-degree box under it, cooked what was on the burner, but allowed food to stay cool right up until the power came on. It also made 'slaving over a hot stove' just that, instead of slaving over a hot stove and oven. Getting the oven out of the way allowed the stove's ventilation system to be down-draft, removing the need for the overhead hood and allowing for the kitchen island setup. Though forward in concept, the early downdraft systems did not work as well as their ceiling-mounted counterparts. In 1978, Thermador developed the pop-up vent, which drafted from the side instead of from the bottom and sank into the counter when not in use. Though introduced after the Eichler era, the pop-up vent stems from concepts developed in the Eichler-Thermador kitchen and remains popular in remodels. As Eichler worked to streamline the commute-heavy lives of the new suburban multitudes, Thermador worked to streamline their kitchens. In 1963, Thermador introduced the self-cleaning oven. In 1964, the lift-up cook-top made cleaning the burners an easy job. 1967 saw the built-in can opener and toaster. Many Eichlers also had a Nutone blender motor built into the countertop. This integration of appliance into construction is known in German as 'Einbau,' a word that translates directly as assembly, flush mounting, or integration. Thermador's penchant for Einbau gained enough attention from overseas that the German company Bosch-Siemens Hausgerate bought it from then-owner Masco Corporation in 1998. Despite its German parent company, Thermador remains an American institution, and for its 50th anniversary currently underway, the company is going big. One facet of their national celebration is the 'Taste of America' recipe contest, in which contestants submit recipes native to their home states. Restaurateur and Caesar's Palace Chef Bradley Ogden will judge recipes and the winner from each state will be featured in a book, 'Taste of America' Oven Recipe Cookbook. Contestants will also be entered into a contest to win a Ford Thunderbird. Most of those competing in this contest will be using modern ovens, the majority of vintage Thermadors having been lost to old age or remodeling. While advancing technology has changed their appliances' performance, Thermador's design concept has actually changed very little over the years. They still lean toward minimalism and stainless steel finish, introducing, over the years, the flat electric range, a dishwasher with a stainless interior, and a built-in microwave. Chris Papageorge, marketing director of Atherton Design Studio, a Thermador dealer based in Redwood City, noted that with advertising slogans such as 'the leader then, the leader now,' the Thermador company is "trying to brand themselves, like Chevy, as an American icon." Thermador is certainly not letting the birthday of its premier product go unnoticed. Thermador's 50th anniversary celebration includes an exhibit, presented at a recent large-scale kitchen and bath show, on the company's history. The most effective tribute to Thermador, though, will come not through promotional events or nostalgic publicity, but through continued innovation and a commitment to function. |
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