Exploring a century through historical tools and objects.

Tools and materials such as hammers, cables and bricks used in the V-ZUG Gourmet Academy.

Creativity, agility, leadership, teamwork: these soft skills are often hailed as the keys to success in today’s marketplace. Yet, it’s when the abstract becomes tangible that a manufacturing company begins to thrive. A selection of objects and production tools found at V-ZUG’s headquarters, dating back from different eras of its history, remind us that ideas must take shape in order to become facts.

Bunker Saddle
V-ZUG’s archive is currently located in an underground space that, back in the 1930s, used to be a bunker. In the event of a power failure, the bunker’s occupants would still be able to operate the air purification system by pedalling on a two-seats stationary bicycle.
Metal carafe
This metal carafe conserved in the ZUGORAMA museum was never mass produced or sold. It was just a sample to show that, among the different operations performed at the factory, V-ZUG also produced beautiful enamelware.
Karl’s Hammer
“I like it very much. When you hit a machine tool component, nothing gets damaged because of the copper on top of it,” says Karl Bircher, 62, a toolmaker who has been working for V-ZUG for 34 years.
Production smock
“I first used it in 1989. At the time, all production employees wore a jacket like this,” says engineer Hilmar Meienberg, 51. Today, V-ZUG employees are not required to wear a smock anymore, but can freely combine the different elements of a clothing kit conceived to both comply with safety requirements and identify them as one team.
Circular brush
There was a time when sporting shiny shoes was extremely important. This circular brush was the central element of an electric shoe-shiner sold by V-ZUG in the 1960s. Now conserved in the ZUGORAMA museum, it is a testimony to the wide range of home appliances that the company used to produce.
V-ZUG Eye
V-ZUG receives many calls every year, from customers who have questions about their appliances. Technicians can check what’s going on by connecting to the customer’s appliance this digital tester called V-ZUG Eye, just like doctors with their stethoscope.
Technical drawing
This technical drawing from 1945 shows a component of a greenhouse watering can, manufactured in a 2.5 and a 4.5-litre version. Now completely digitalised, the V-ZUG’s archive currently contains around 170,000 product specifications and 140,000 drawings such as this one, testimonies to decades of research on metal household accessories and on household appliances.
Oven stone
Coming up with a new, high-performance oven requires years of developing and testing. To avoid wasting expensive food in the process, engineers at V-ZUG’s food engineering department sometimes place a stone like this one in the oven and check how it reacts to different heating conditions.
Parisian spoon
“While cooking, we collect leftovers which can be reused for soups and purees,” says Reto Stefania, 50, an International Demonstrator at V-ZUG’s Gourmet Academy. He uses this Parisian spoon to scoop out the pulp from potatoes, apples, pears, aubergines as well as other fruits and vegetables.