Consumer Reports Archives Exhibitions

This Sneeze Was for Science

Highspeed black and white photograph of a man sneezing, water droplits backlite against a dark background.

Antihistamine, 1950

Two women, their backs are painted with grids displaying the results of various sunburn preventatives.

Sunsburn Preventives, 1940

A pile of burnt toasted next to a line of toasters as a Conusmer Rerports tester in a white lab coat inserts fresh slices of bread into a toaster.

Toasters, 1958

A 1970 Datsun navigating a slalom course on a Consumer Reports test track, demonstrating the car’s handling and agility during performance evaluation.

Datsun 710, 1974

A television engulfed in flames. A mound of burned toast piled next to a procession of toasters. A backlit spray of droplets from a simulated sneeze. All of these visual compositions can make communicating various testing procedures, and their results, increasingly more accessible. For ninety years, Consumer Reports has used photography to connect with its readers by providing visual context to the organization’s numerous testing methods and findings. Photographs also served to helped reinforce the authority and credibility of Consumer Reports by providing visual proof that their innovative testing techniques were legitimate, effective, and comprehensive.

When photography first emerged in the early nineteenth century, it was initially heralded as a science, a method of replicating reality to near perfection though the means of advancements in chemistry, engineering, and the harnessing of light. The camera, referred to as the “Mechanical Eye,” was seen as an objective tool used to capture its subjects free of human influence. Today, however, we understand that every image is influenced by its creator to some degree. Through factors such as choice in composition, framing, cropping, or even digital alterations, photography can indeed be a fallible witness to reality.

The photographs in this exhibition invite you to explore the complexities and the hurdles faced by a science-based, activist organization like Consumer Reports, when using a fallible medium like photography in their pursuit to communicate truth. As you view these unique behind-the-scenes images of the early years of the organization’s testing process, and the individuals who helped shape it, consider not only what each photograph depicts, but what it means to seek truth from photography.

A special thanks to the countless photographers at Consumer Reports for decades of insightful documentation. Their images brought the organization’s testing to life and helped build trust between the non-profit and the consumers they served.

This exhibit was curated by Steven Kramer, Consumer Reports Exhibit Assistant & Digitization Coordinator

Three women wearing blindfolds sample food from small containers in a controlled blind taste test.
Rear view of a 1962 Chevy II with three men seated inside the car.
A man sits reading a newspaper while his back is exposed to a series of heatlamps, loosly replicating the heat and radiation of the sun.
A black and white photograph of a 1975 19inch TV set on a four legged stand positioned outside. The leftside edge of the TV is on fire and billowing smoke.
A black-and-white image depicts a standing man with a hammer affixed to and dangling from his extended index finger.
Black and white image of a male consumer reports tester walking down a long hallway lined with numerous types of different flooring options.
A black-and-white photograph shows a male Consumer Reports tester carefully pouring drain opener fluid down into a transparent drainage system.
A black-and-white image shows a man wearing an earpiece, watching a small television screen that displays another man in bed talking on the phone.
A man dangles from a second-story window, legs extended first, preparing to descend onto a collapsible escape ladder.
A close up of a hand inserting a battery into an empty slot in a large table top battery tester, which is already heavily populated with other batteries that are being tested.
Black and white image of a female consumer reports tester examining frozen pizza boxes.
A ballpoint pen tester custom built by Consumer Reports, simultaneously evaluating multiple pens by recording their ink output on a continuously scrolling roll of paper.
Black and white photograph of a custom build human dummy strapped onto carseat.
Black and white image of a male attempting to kick open a door, testing the strength of the door jam and lock. A pile of additional door jams lay on the floor at his feet.
A Pepsodent toothpaste tube is clamped vertically above a paper sheet, with a timer nearby—likely measuring flow rate or consistency, as toothpaste drips from the open tube.
A Consumer Reports tester conducts an exposure meter test by observing light patterns projected through a series of circular apertures in a controlled optical setup.
Black and white photo of a woman lifting her leg trying to enter a 1974 Buick station wagon via the rear tailgate.
Two Consumer Reports testers sit at a large battery testing table, which holds a large number of other batteries.
A man pushing a lawnmower is outlined with white paint and is masked with a layer of red Rubylith.
Side view of a 1970 Citroën DS, outlined with white paint masked with a red Rubyith overlay.
A man wearing ear protection while using a chainsaw to cut a large branch off a stump. He is outlined with white paint and masked with a red Rubylith overlay.

Seeing Red!

Red masking film, commonly known by the trademarked name Rubylith, was a cornerstone of traditional graphic arts and photographic processes before the advent of digital image editing software like Photoshop. First introduced in 1961 by the Ulano Corporation, Rubylith became so widely recognized that its name is often used generically to describe any red masking film.

Structurally, Rubylith consists of two layers: a clear polyester base and a thin, translucent red coating. When placed over a photograph, artists or technicians would carefully trace the desired subject using precision tools such as scalpels or X-Acto knives, cutting only through the red layer. Once the tracing was complete, the red film was removed from the undesired areas, leaving only the clear polyester layers behind. The red film that remained attached, masked the portions of the image the photographer or designer wished to be retained. Unmasked areas (areas only covered by the clear polyester layer) would be eliminated in the reproduction process. This technique allowed graphic artists to isolate subjects from their backgrounds, enabling the creation of dynamic and innovative layouts for print publications.

Though now considered labor-intensive and manual, the Rubylith process laid the groundwork for the precision we associate with modern digital design. Today, digital “masking” tools in software like Adobe Photoshop carry forward the legacy of this analog technique.

A man in a dress shirt and dark plaid tie adjusts large headphones on his head, surrounded by stylized white outlines and crisscross patterns.
A person stands with one foot on each of two suitcases—one visibly compressed under their weight while the other remains firm—highlighting uneven weight distribution, with handwritten notes questioning how to make the weight appear equal.
Black and white photograph of four tubes of toothpaste, one is outlined with white paint while another is crossed out.
Three seated testers with clipboards examining the picture quality of five televisions. At the top edge, inscriptions indicating a lack of contrast on the TV screens is written in orange pencil.
A black and white product image of a 1972 stereo system featuring a turntable and two speakers. At the lower right corner of the image, handwritten in orange pencil, are instructions to remove the stereo company’s name.
A black and white photograph featuing a tipped over bottle of asprin with an number of pills spilled out, annotated with red handwritten text reading "Silhouette".

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