Helen Pope / Designer

Fruit basket by Helen Pope

Her work was selected for multiple Good Design exhibitions, including Chicago, 1953. Two candle holder designs were selected in 1954.

 

In the 1953 Young Designers exhibition catalog, Helen Pope said she "...is interested in designs that are eminently manufacturable, and which are thus, in most cases, cheap to fabricate. She is critical of what she sees as a trend toward expensive elegance and a concern for sheer good looks rather than production of economically accessible furnishings."

Source: Young Designers, Akron Art Institute 

Prototypes were developed in her "experimental shop" in St. Louis and contracted out to fabricators." At one point she also opened up a candle-manufacturing facility next to her metal studio because she was unable to find candles suitable for her holder designs. Pope designed a number of pieces that were distributed around the country but examples are very hard to come by. 

Prior to opening up her design shop, she was a model in New York.  That led to some unfortunate newspaper headlines.  It was through modeling she met photographer Lynn Foersterling, whom she would start her design business with.  

Source: St. Louis Globe Democrat, 1953

By the late 1950s, she closed her design business. It lasted four years. That was a common trend. Many of the smaller companies did not make it past the late 1950s. 

After the furniture business, Helen wanted to try her hand at the male-dominated car sales business. After being turned down at many dealerships, she finally landed a job. Unfortunately. the horrible headlines persisted.  Her former business partner, Lynn Foersterling, took the photos for this article. 

Source: St. Louis Globe Democrat, 1957