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Blame elementary school field trips and Picture Picture on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, but I've always been a sucker for a factory tour. Cookies, bread, crayons, air conditioners, sunrooms: Whatever the item, the must-know gal in me will, at the drop of a hard hat, don safety goggles and ear protectors and venture to the far ends of the earth just to see how something is put together. When I'm not on the road, I satisfy my curiosity by visiting the “Cool Stuff Being Made” podcasts on the National Association of Manufacturers' website (http://blog.nam.org/archives/coolstuffbeingmadecom_weekend_video/index.php). Here, snackers can dig into tutorials on Krispy Kreme doughnuts, candy, beer, etc.—though I prefer learning about bricks, duct tape, and hand tools. The site also features a two-minute 1950s film about the Charles and Ray Eames lounge chair by Herman Miller. This podcast is timely because the comfy molded wood-and-leather seat is winding up its year-long, 50th Anniversary exhibition tour with a final stop at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan (thehenryford.org), from February 3 to April 29.
Hankering for your own copy of this modernist icon? Surf on over to Design Within Reach (dwr.com), where, for $3,245, plus tax and shipping, you can order a special anniversary edition Eames lounge chair and ottoman (commemorative medallion and coffee-table book included). The combo is perfect for relaxing in, and an ideal seating for taking a virtual tour of a dinner-plate factory via Picture Picture online at pbskids.org/rogers/R_house/picpic.htm. —HomeSnark™
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