Design to enable the body: Thomas Lamb's "wedge-lock" handle, 1941-1962

Abstract

Ergonomic design is now commonplace, but the idea of shaping a product based on aggregated measurements of the human body was once revolutionary. In 1941, New York City industrial designer Thomas Lamb began an ambitious study of hand and handle function. He soon patented a remarkable, new “Wedge-lock” handle, which lessened fatigue and increased comfort and efficiency. Over the next fifteen years, Lamb’s handle appeared on crutches, luggage, cutlery, tools, etc., and his clients ranged from Macy’s to Cutco. Drawing on Lamb’s business papers, correspondence, patents, models and sketches, this project explores an insufficiently studied design development -- the practice of utilizing empirical physical research to create products that better serve the human body. Lamb was an evangelical crusader, hoping to save the world one handle at a time. His pioneering use of anthropometric design methods provided a model for other designers and foreshadowed a significant shift in twentieth-century design practice. The Wedge-lock handle introduced many Americans to the concept of ergonomic design.