02 Jun a vast collection of early to mid-20th century industrial folk art culled from the urban remains online catalog

i recently acquired a very unusual, folded and pressed galvanized steel factory machinist tool chest with distinctive riveted joints and customized drop handles and hasps.

after thoroughly cleaning it, i added it to my ever-growing subcollection of industrial artifacts that i find to be unusual, one-of-a-kind pieces that were never intended to be viewed as “art,” despite the remarkable craftsmanship or ingenuity – given the materials at hand.

with this new acquisition on my mind, i thought it would be interesting to put together a collection or assemblage of similar artifacts, pulled from the website catalog that may be categorized as industrial “folk art.”

the fact that these items were never intended to be ‘art for art’s sake’ at the time of their creation, makes it all the more interesting in my humble opinion.

the great majority of the items i selected were either constructed from materials within a machine shop or involved an existing piece (e.g., stool, cabinet, etc.), that was modified to accommodate the needs of the worker.

i’m always amazed, and sometimes humored by some of the objects we come across when salvaging a factory.

the contents of lockers left behind after the closing of a factory are especially interesting.