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Casting a Cool Eye

This has been a week when some high-profile, conclusion-jumping incidents have made the news: from #IStandWithAhmed to the mistaken identity case of James Blake to the Donald Trump/Carly Fiorina pseudo smack-down, the willingness to judge by appearances has been on full and unfortunate display. It's a story, of course, that goes back much further than this awkward 1935 ad, where the aesthetic merits of a refrigerator—and perhaps its owner, as well—are being appraised at discomfiting range.