I have been reading up on your garage build and I have to say I absolutely love the art deco styling of these cool old craftsman tools! Congratulations on how far you have come so far and good luck on your future endeavors.
Thanks man! I love the style too! A few things I have learned from doing this and researching...there are two styles of art deco. There is the original art deco, which formed a foundation in the 1920s and continued into the 1930s. The original form of art deco transitioned into Streamline styling, which is what a lot of people think of when they think of art deco. Really, it was 'Art Deco 2.0'.
The classic art deco primarily consisted of geometric shapes, symmetry, while paying homage to ancient Egyptian and Mayan/Aztec architecture. You also see a lot of color variations, such as yellow and jade.
The streamline style of art deco is what you see in the mid to late 1930s and played a big role in industrial design, such as cars and trains. This was the pinnacle of modernism, with steel, chrome, and polished aluminum representing the latest and greatest in advanced technology.
Some examples of classic art deco:
Examples of 'Streamline' art deco:
You can see from these examples how prevalent the classic art deco was among architectural designers of the day and how that later came to influence industrial design and engineering. The focus of art deco in the beginning was 'art as decoration', highly accentuated by geometric shapes and symmetry. The later streamline art deco is more flowing and captures the concept of 'speed in stillness', which was design to give the impression of quick, accelerated movement at rest, which also represented the forward movement of modernism.
From the garage, you would think that I would overwhelmingly favor the latter, which seems more common in contemporary approaches to art deco. However, if I was to be truthful, I would say that I more prefer the intricacy found in the early, more geometrically influenced art deco - I think it is more challenging to create and work with, but therefore more visually rewarding when complete.
I am hoping to incorporate more of this type of art deco into the garage, specifically into the work bench - it will have elements of both art deco and streamline.
But really, it is hard to pick favorites. I mean, just look at all the pictures above - they are all so beautiful!
, but I do appreciate the compliments. I'm going to try to get some dual outlet covers of the same vintage. I see them around, just need to snag a few. 
, but I sent 'em!
