FlyingSquid, 2 years ago

It’s definitely interesting what the props and model people found from everyday objects.

In the very first show of our first season (recounts Roddenberry) (“The Man Trap” by George C. Johnson) we needed some salt shakers because we had a creature that craved salt, we had a story point which required the creature (disguised in human form) to give himself away when someone passed with a salt shaker on a tray. This posed a problem. What will a salt shaker look like three hundred years from now? Our property manager, Irving Feinberg, went out and bought a selection of very exotic looking salt shakers. It was not until he brought them in and showed them to me that I realized they were so beautifully shaped and futuristic that the audience would never recognize them as salt shakers. I would either have to use 20th century salt shakers or else I would have to have a character say, “See, this is a salt shaker.” So I told Irving to go down to the studio commissary and bring me several of their salt shakers, and as he turned to go, I said, “However, those eight devices you have there will become Dr. McCoy’s operating instruments.” For two years now the majority of McCoy’s instruments in Sick Bay have been a selection of exotic salt shakers, and we know they work, because we’ve seen them work. Not only has he saved many a life with them but it’s helped keep hand prop budget costs low.

startrekpropauthority.com/…/dr-mccoys-sickbay-on-…

For example, when the Enterprise is in Dry-dock a small utility vessel passes by. It is actually a broken toy robot foot embellished with throw-away razor handles glued to it. We didn’t have much time and used whatever was available to do the job. The makers of everyday objects do a great job of precise industrial design and manufacturing. If you can look at things independent of their actual size you will discover that the world is filled with space ship parts.

memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Shuttle_drone