EM77

In 1975 Erik Magnussen was asked by Stelton to design a thermos for their cylindrical steel tabletop line. Stelton had gained recognition for Arne Jacobsen’s ‘Cylinda Line’, and they wanted to add a thermos to go with their general collection. Using a standard glass insert to fit in a cylindrical steel body - a technology they possessed.

Photo: Piotr Fotografi

Erik Magnussen was on the lookout for an improvement of the familiar everyday article, and he wanted it to be affordable. Steel was a relatively expensive material, so he would have to minimize labor cost. The idea of a body in plastic came up, but that was of no immediate interest to Stelton because of the cost of tooling. However – he prepared the design for the thicker plastic body to be introduced later, by giving the top a slightly bigger diameter.
A plastic handle and top would involve affordable tooling, a softer grip and saving expensive processing of the steel. And the possibility of clipping it all together.

Photo: Piotr Fotografi ↓

In designing the handle he drew on his experience with the Hank porcelain set.
Most ordinary coffee pots are one hand operated, why did most thermos require two hands?  During a trip on his sailboat he watched an instrument with a cardan suspension and found the solution for the self operated lid.
When Stelton moved a large part of their production to China they kept producing the colorful range of EM77 thermos in Denmark. There was nothing to gain by moving it.
Awarded the ID prize by The Danish Design Council in 1977.

Photo: Elizabeth Heltoft ↓