Visitors to Jordan Manufacturing’s office or booth at a tradeshow will find some interesting examples of our company’s current and past products. Each one is chosen to tell a story about Jordan Manufacturing’s place in American manufacturing history. One such product is the For the Birds Poultry Roasting Rack.
The Poultry Roasting Rack produced by Jordan Manufacturing in the early-90s has an interesting backstory. The idea and design was created by Mary Ellen Dohrs, an American industrial designer who did pioneering work for General Motors and Sundberg-Ferar.
Dohrs studied industrial design at the Pratt Institute in New York City and joined General Motors in 1950 at the age of 20. Not only was she the youngest designer working at any automaker, she was also one of the first female designers to work at GM, predating “The Damsels of Design” by several years.
At GM, Dohrs worked primarily on interior design, an area that had only recently gained importance in car styling. Her work combined elegance and practicality, seen in her interior design of the 1950 Series 62 Cadillac Convertible.
Mary Ellen believed car interiors should express both comfort and character, helping move automotive design beyond pure function.
After leaving GM, Dohrs continued her career with Sundberg-Ferar, where she contributed to industrial design projects for clients including IBM, Whirlpool, Samsonite, and Packard, for whom she designed the interior of the 1955 Caribbean.
In retirement, Mary Ellen continued to design and create art, later teaching art in school.
In 1986, a patent was filed with the USPTO for a “bird roasting assembly and method”. Mary had developed a rack that would allow cooks across the country to roast a chicken to perfection. “Tender goodness by gravity – not grease!”
Jordan Manufacturing’s founder, Robert Johnson, was related to Mary Ellen by marriage and helped design the forming and assembly fixtures. The roasters were manufactured in our facility in Belding, Michigan. The finished packaging included a book of recipes and a packet of spices. Robert took great pride in having helped a world-class designer bring her idea to life. Robert and Mary understood that art and inspiration are always connected to craft and technical skill. It’s always a pleasure to look at the item in my hand and learn about the mind from which it sprang.
For more information about Mary Ellen, see the videos on YouTube uploaded by the Corvair Lady