Textile Sample, Swizzles

Beginning in 1947, Ruth Adler began designing simple modern fabrics for home furnishing. Swizzles is an example of her lively work and may take its name from the ubiquitous “swizzle stick” stuck into many a 1950s cocktail glass. The textile is full of the organic patterning that would become a hallmark of the era’s aesthetic.

Adler arrived in Michigan in the mid-1940s to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art and never left the Detroit area. Together with her husband, Edward Schnee, she established a studio and retail outlet devoted to bringing good design to the city. It was, however, her work as a textile designer for which she is best known.