Brass Finished Doorstop
Object Name
Brass Finished DoorstopCollection Number
ROMO 22489Year of Purchase
1966Materials
metalDimensions
4.25” L x 1.25” D | 10.75 cm x 3.2 cmManufacturer
UnknownContext
Though seemingly insignificant and nondescript when compared with the more aesthetically unique pieces in this exhibit, very small artifacts such as this brass doorstop were crucial in the day-to-day operations of the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center. Themes of modern architecture and 1960s furniture come to mind when discussing the building, but the facility’s relationship with its objects of everyday utility is an equally important, though often overlooked aspect of its history. By preventing damage to doors and walls, doorstops play small but crucial roles in the overall maintenance of the center and indirectly keep visitors focused on more desirable subjects like the building’s design. In a broad sense, Mission 66 itself embraced similarly practical motives of redirection, as its planners intended to use modernist architectural aesthetics to indirectly orient guests’ attention to the parks themselves.
This particular doorstop probably never drew much attention to itself until the day it was removed from service. No specific records detail its individual history, but its unadorned style and form suggest that Taliesin chose this model because it aligned with Mission 66’s general design principles in addition to its strictly utilitarian function. The doorstop is extremely simple in aesthetics. It lacks any intentionally distinguishable features aside from its brass color, which closely matches the hue of the brass ashtrays in the Visitor Center.
