George Kravis

Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I was fascinated by mechanical and electrical gadgets—anything with a cord, a plug, a battery, a light, a motor.

I have a friend—an architect—who came to my house and was looking at some of my electric irons. I pointed out how each of the cords were textiles of all different colors. She thought that was an interesting design detail and told her sons about it. One of them responded, ‘You mean somebody designed that?’ and she said, ‘Well, it didn’t fall out of the sky.”

I’m very interested in the preservation of twentieth-century architecture and design, whether it be an art deco building, a gas station from the 1950s, or objects of forward-thinking contemporary design from any part of the world.

One of the things that’s so overlooked by many people is what’s in museum shops. Very often there is a really great product, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money. At some point you won’t be able to find it so easily anymore. That’s when it becomes valuable.