Catalog, Whole Earth Catalog: access to tools

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Kentucky Historical Society as part of Tools: Extending Our Reach.

In 1968, writer Stewart Brand launched his radical, offbeat paperback journal, the Whole Earth Catalog. A precursor of the World Wide Web, today’s global information-distribution system, the publication was a user-generated database of disparate tools from varied sources that celebrated small-scale technologies as a way for individuals to improve their lives. It was inspired by the era’s counter-culture movement, which sought a social order that encouraged individual freedom, egalitarianism, and economic independence. The cover of the first edition from fall 1968 featured an early satellite image of Earth from space with the words "WHOLE EARTH CATALOG" and access to tools silhouetted above. This iconic image conveyed a graphically powerful message of interconnectedness and the Catalog achieved cult status. By 1971, it had sold more than a million copies and included over 1,000 different entries, ranging from meditation guides and machines to potters’ wheels, camping gear, and self-help tips. It was published sporadically until 1998.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Tools: Extending Our Reach.