Design Archives - Manners & Mischief

What is the Aga? And why is it the ONLY kitchen appliance you would ever need?

January 15, 2016 by anubha76 Leave a Comment

It’s a name that has passed into the language itself – novels with countryside settings are referred to as Aga Sagas – and the word immediately conjures up romantic images of countryside living, complete with green wellies and the aroma of fresh baking. So what is it about the Aga that has made it a culinary icon, favoured by everyone from Martha Stewart and Jamie Oliver to Princess Diana and Paul McCartney?

What is the Aga?

Invented in 1922 by Dr. Gustav Dalén, a blind Nobel Prize-winning physicist, this multi-purpose cast iron cooker holds at its core a small burner, which keeps it constantly ready to go and eliminates the need for manual temperature control (hence the absence of any knobs).

The multiple ovens and burners maintain different temperatures through variations in the cast iron’s thickness: water can come to a fast boil on one of the top burners, while delicate sauces can simmer gently on the adjoining plate; one oven can cook slowly while another can simultaneously roast or bake at much higher temperatures. And that’s not all – the Aga can also toast bread, heat up the entire room and dry clothes to a crease-less finish.

Plus, since it doesn’t blast food with drying direct heat, Aga devotees hold that radiant heat from the cast iron ovens gently cooks food more gently, locking in flavour, moisture and nutrients.

Where did it originate?

Its casting and vitreous hand enameling continue to take place at the 300-year-old Coalbrookdale foundry, UK, a world heritage site that manufactured the first commercially available Aga in 1929.

The company continues to build on the original, refreshing the cooker for contemporary needs, such as a range of candy hues that have brought us a long way from Dalén’s first cooker, even as the quintessential design keeps us close to it’s legendary heritage.

The AGA was voted in a BBC survey one of the top three design icons of the 20th century.

But isn’t an Aga seriously fuel-hungry? Can it be eco-friendly?

About 70% of a new Aga is now made of recycled scrap iron and innovative bio-fuel, diesel and electric versions make it extremely eco-friendly.

Why is the Tiffany’s box a trademark blue? And why is it more coveted than the actual contents?

February 9, 2015 by anubha76 Leave a Comment

It was in 1878 that Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Book catalogue acquired its first cover in the particular shade of blue that’s now come to be known as Tiffany Blue. Variously described as ‘forget-me-not blue’ and ‘robin’s egg blue’, it was handpicked because of the popularity of turquoise gemstones in the 19th century.

Turquoise was also a favorite of Victorian brides, who usually gave their attendants a dove-shaped brooch set with turquoise so that they would not forget the occasion – a detail that was not lost on Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded the brand as the pinnacle of wedding luxe.

The box incited such a flurry of emotions that in 1906, The New York Sun famously reported: “(Charles Lewis) Tiffany has one thing in stock that you cannot buy of him for as much money as you may offer; he will only give it to you. And that is one of his boxes.”

At the beginning of the 20th century, the venerable jewellery house trademarked this cult shade and it now bears the same number (1837) on the Pantone Matching System as the year Tiffany was founded. More than a century later, the “little blue box” remains an international icon, whispering romance and sophistication, and inciting bidding wars on eBay from collectors who sometimes value the packaging more than the contents.

Bonus facts:

1. Pantone makes the blue-coloured paper for all Tiffany’s packaging materials.

2. The white satin ribbon that is tied at the counter is another de rigueur for all Tiffany’s boxes. The only time it’s replaced is during the holidays, when Tiffany’s uses a red ribbon for the festivities.

3. The brand’s name is embossed in Baskerville Old Face.

4. During the shooting of Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the store posted 40 armed guards on the floor to prevent its blue boxes from vanishing!

5. The Tiffany’s blue box has even inspired actual pieces of jewellery (like this pretty charm) – not to mention the innumerable nail polishes, desserts, wall coverings, fashion collections and decor objects.

Own a Tiffany’s blue box? Want a Tiffany’s blue box?

Conversation starter: What is the Hermès orange?

January 21, 2015 by anubha76 Leave a Comment

Orange has been the Hermès hallmark colour since the Second World War, when the company’s packaging supplier ran out of its traditional brown-trimmed beige box. When the company was launched in 1837, the first boxes were cream-coloured, with gilded-edging, imitating pigskin; a few years later they became mustard-coloured with brown edging.

The Second World War forced the next color change. During the Occupation, the shortage of all materials forced Hermès to use the only plain paperboard available: it was orange. Moving to orange was a pretty bold move in the 1940s, but there has been no turning back for the company that began in Thierry Hermès’ saddle shop in Paris.

According to Leatrice Eisman, author of All About Colour, “Because orange is closely associated to red from which it comes, vibrant orange is a very physical, high-visibility colour, calling for attention. And because of it’s connection to sunny yellow, orange is seen as friendlier and more approachable, less aggressive than red – a gregarious, fun loving hue.”

After the war, this color was continued, but in a much more vivid shade (as today) with a relief pattern. In 1949, the Bolduc (brown ribbon) was introduced. Before 1996, jewellery and tableware had different colored boxes: grey for jewelry and green for tableware; however, today all Hermès objects come in the orange box, which comes in 188 different sizes. This burnt orange corresponds to No. 1448 on the Pantone Matching System.