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Collections

Opco Company
Ice Guncirca 1935

Not on view
Glossy crimson red toy ray gun with chrome barrel tip and rounded dome, mid-century futuristic design, shown in left profile against a gray background
Red painted tin toy ray gun with streamlined bullet-shaped barrel, chrome accents along the top, a circular disc at the side, and a pointed silver tip at the muzzle.
Artist or Maker
Opco Company
United States, California, Los Angeles
Title
Ice Gun
Date Made
circa 1935
Medium
Aluminum, chrome-plated steel
Dimensions
6 1/4 × 10 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (15.88 × 27.31 × 6.35 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by the Decorative Arts and Design Acquisition Fund and the Decorative Arts and Design Council Fund
Accession Number
M.2010.204
Classification
Sculpture
Collecting Area
Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes

The ice gun’s aerodynamic form resembles the streamlined trains and automobiles of the 1930s. It provided cocktail party theater: the thirsty gunslinger would pull back on the cone-shaped lever, drop the ice cubes in the opening at the top, release the trigger, and crushed ice would fall into the waiting glass.



(California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way," 2011-12)

Selected Bibliography
  • Kaplan, Wendy, ed. Living in a Modern Way: California Design, 1930-1965. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2013.
Selected Exhibition History
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". October 1, 2011 - June 3, 2012
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". October 1, 2011 - June 3, 2012
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 20, 2013 - June 3, 2013
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 20, 2013 - June 3, 2013
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". July 6, 2013 - September 29, 2013
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". July 6, 2013 - September 29, 2013
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". November 2, 2013 - February 9, 2014
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". November 2, 2013 - February 9, 2014
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 29, 2014 - July 6, 2014
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 29, 2014 - July 6, 2014