Today’s episode aims to instil gratitude for handles that help you hold, carry, lug products.
Think laundry detergent.
Huge packages of toilet paper.
Buckets full of paint.
Party-sized wine boxes.
Thanks to their bail handles you can, well, handle them.
The material now used, plastic or metal, is new.
The concept is very old.
Proto-Geometric amphora, c. 975–950 BCE, Lumen Learning
Amphora and their characteristic handles date back to the neolithic period. The largest stand 1.5m (5 ft) tall and would be pretty hard to handle without something to hold on to.
Beer and wine have been stored and consumed in jugs with handles for centuries.
And one of the most viewed, but probably not noticed, handles is that of the jug in Vermeer’s famous Milkmaid.
The Milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1660, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Today, look for those handy package handles.
Check out your pantry, wander around the aisles in a big supermarket, or visit your garage.
Capture handles that help you hold products and share them on Twitter or Instagram, using the hashtag #kramerseye