Industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss had been pondering a round thermostat since he introduced the round Big Ben alarm clock in 1939. For Dreyfuss the conventional rectangular thermostat posed problems for the home’s interior: it was frequently mounted crooked on the wall and it stood out against the paint color. Dreyfuss along with Honeywell president Harold Sweatt and engineer Carl Kronmiller devised the T87 whose simple round form and removable and paintable inner dial helped solve these problems, while its unique circular form distinguished it from the competition.