Hugely influential yet comparatively unknown, midwesterner Brooks Stevens (1911-1995) was among the most important industrial designers. Like Henry Dreyfuss, Brooks Stevens was known for being both artistic and pragmatic, and this brought him considerable success.

Those of us who grew up with Formica topped furniture and boomerang patterns didn’t know it, but that was Brooks Stevens. AMF bikes, Evenrude motors, Scotch tape boxes, Miller beer, the Jeep Wagoneer, Lawn-Boy mowers, the streamlined Hiawatha train and on and on.

Like Kem Weber, Brooks Stevens’ more conservative designs proved an easier sell, but he did indeed design some very cool things like a streamlined fridge for…the Coolerator Company.

This week’s Decopix Deco patent is one sharp looking vacuum cleaner. I think it’s fair to say it borrows more than a little from the Electrolux which was a Lurelle Guild design, but still a mighty handsome bit of streamline art.