Marketing the Mundane – How The Electrical Age Used the Allure of America to Sell Electricity to Women in Britain
Guest blog by Anna Lowry, University of Leeds Introduction During the mid-20th century, the concept of electricity was largely unappealing to families and households. While its potential was revolutionary, many regarded it as frighteningly dangerous—people often associated the new technology with electrocution accidents, and even for delivering death sentences via the Electric Chair in the US. Meanwhile for some, it was an unseen enigma, a mysterious and almost alien concept, something they used without fully understanding. As a result, it remained cloaked in fear and functional banality. The Electrical Age addressed these concerns, and the EAW not only worked hard to guarantee housewives ‘Safety First’ – that electricity could be safe to use in the home – but also to assure their readers…
