Material for a new era

_New aspects of the history of modern product design
_Evidence of the enthusiasm for technology in the 1930s
_Importance of the German Werkbund for commodity culture and advertising strategies
_With complete and illustrated product list

There was a time when plastic materials were considered symbols of progress: From the last years of the Weimar Republic until World War II, household goods made from Pollopas were fashionable as luxury items for a young, tech-savvy elite, and at the same time, they were harbingers of a consumer society that would emerge from the 1950s onward. Under the direction of designer Ludwig König and inspired by the design principles of the German Werkbund, Dynamit Nobel AG produced colorful plates and cups, biscuit tins and ashtrays, salad servers, and butter knives from this completely new material. Despite the 90-year-old designs, the pieces still appear distinctly modern today. Design historian and business journalist Kay Meiners vividly traces the emergence of industrial design in the plastics processing industry based on the history of Pollopas household products. Through an analysis of consumer culture and advertising strategies, he also reconstructs new, insightful aspects of the dawn of modernity.