Electrical Promotion Between the Wars.

The Electrical Association for Women and the Electrical Development Association were separate organisations, but both were funded by the Central Electricity Board which in turn was state funded, so can hardly be described as Worden, and indeed Caroline Haslett does as neutral.

The British Electrical Development Association

Prior to this period, domestic electricity had only been used to light the home. It was successful because of its cleanliness, ease and brilliance in comparison to gas and oil lighting, but by 1914 consumption was still negligible due to the high tariff, the expense of wiring the house and the availability of gas.

By just using electricity for lighting, peaks were created at certain times of the day, and the industry wanted to spread the load by building up a demand for other uses during the day.

EDA was created by the Electricity (Supply) Act of 1919 which aimed to set up a voluntary nation-wide network of electricity run by a central authority; prior to this electricity supply and generation was uncoordinated. The Electricity (Supply) Act of 1926, part of the programme of British state intervention in banking, industry, electricity and manufacture, gave compulsory powers to concentrate and amalgamate electricity generation and create a national grid, which was built between 1926 and 1935.

Its initial role was as the agent of propaganda for the industry, appealing to emotion, to “create a picture”, not an argument , creating a mental attitude favourable towards electricity, and not designed to sell or give information about any particular apparatus. Encouraging desire and greater domestic consumption through advertising, films, lectures and exhibitions. The more homes that used electricity, the more economical and viable it would be to generate. Later EDA serviced the industry, bridging the gap between manufacturer and supplier, offering a monthly sales and publicity programme,such as the programme of window displays, and more importantly through investigation by its sub-committees was able to spread through the industry knowledge of new markets and to assist and guide the industry. It also made sure that it was affiliated to other bodies such as the Ministry of Health, smoke abatement societies, and was a source of information for social welfare and political workers.

Nationalism

Within the electrical press the rhetoric of nationalism is easily discernible, the EAW and EDA both state that foreign goods might not be safe and might not conform to British safety standards, and electrical appliance advertising after the early 1930s frequently made a point of the product being British-made. This seems to be a manifestation of the British Government’s belief in “ triumphalism” - where the economy, society and culture would be transformed rapidly by the new source of energy. In response to the disastrous economic situation, new industries were encouraged as a means to reduce unemployment and were a valuable source of income particularly through export; in 1929 33% of British made electrical apparatus was exported throughout the empire. Consumption was also seen to be of economic importance; in 1932 the import duties act was imposed as protective legislation against foreign competition and to induce patriotic buying. PEP advocated that the way for greater profitability in the appliance industry and therefore for increased employment was the production of more appliances on two layers, the large-scale, low priced appliances for lower incomes, and the more expensive luxury or semi-luxury goods for the higher income bracket.

Hire Purchase was also legislated for, to encourage greater consumption of British products

Hire purchase led to an increase of sales which enables production to be expanded, and selling prices to be reduced, and this increases the purchasing power of the public. This in turn brings about an expansion of demand which leads to greater sales, this still further improving the conditions of production. This in its turn produces increased employment, which linked up with lower prices, makes for an improved standard of living.

The take-off period for electrical appliances was between 1932 and 1938, marking the upswing of the depression and a period of economic growth. The importance of the introduction of deferred payment schemes, assisted wiring and hire-purchase of appliances in stimulating and maintaining the demand for consumer goods must not be underestimated . The schemes, as well as lower unit charges introduced during those years, seemed to be pretty much a means to the main end of increased consumption. Without credit schemes outright purchase was out of the question for many people, particularly when coupled with the high installation and running costs

Advertising

The advertising was initially heavily dependent on the potential of electricity, and often not very specific about benefits and glossing over faults such as expense. EDA’s promotions initially placed emphasis on the future rather than the present - using millenarianism, with slogans such as “to electricity belongs the present and the future”, “Science’s greatest gift to the world - Electricity”, and in 1927 “For health’s sake use electricity”. By the 1930s electricity and appliances were more easily available, technically advanced, and more common, so specific advertising was used, such as outlets, or proper lighting (Fig 5 EDA lighting campaign), or seasonal such as refrigeration and Christmas gifts.(Fig 6 seasonal EDA advertising using the original EDA figure encouraging electrical gift giving) Electricity was described as modern and although never directly compared with other fuel forms, indirectly associations were made. The modernity and newness of electricity automatically distanced it from other old-fashioned, out-of-date technologies, although the imagery used was frequently the same as for other technologies.

Electricity and gas rivalry was keen, later concentrating on relative costs, each adjusting the figures to prove their own particular advantages in frequent articles in The Times. From 1930 EDA devised a sales and advertising policy responding to the gas industry’s Mr. Therm, by creating the relatively unsuccessful “I’m Electric” , initially a blob-like workman, evolving later into a ray emanating imp “the Electric Wizard” that was better suited visually (Fig 7 “I’m Electric” character featuring in a general EDA campaign).

Electricity claimed that gas was dirty, smelly and unhealthy, whilst gas cited electricity’s lack of cheerfulness in heating, and lack of control in cooking. In 1935 the British Gas Federation was set up, including a National Gas Council and Women’s Gas Council, in response to EDA and EAW

Design

The design discourse about appliances can be detected from 1925, particularly the modernist debate of form following function. Editorials in Electrical Industries and Investments urged a break away from the “conventional” in material and shape, and for inspired and original designs,

The single fact that electrical appliances are essentially clean in use should be one source of inspiration to designers.

and they should be:

valuable additions to the decorative scheme of any house, and are not merely things to be place in a room because they are useful.

By 1935 Electrical Industries took the modernistic aesthetic further, and began advocating technologically affiliated, mechanistic, emotionless designs

...even pattern and design, thought and feeling, should be emotionless and standardised.

However this was not the only view of the time, there was also fear of the standardised form, reflecting a fear of modernity and mechanisation, that it was out of control and the “middle way” was advocated to counter the mechanistic standardisation that had “taken possession” of the industry. But this might also have been a warning to the industry about the general public’s distrust of the modernistic form, and not to produce apparatus that would seem to be contentious, thereby diminishing their potential market.

Many electrical domestic appliances are still looked upon as expensive toys. In general, it may be said that an electrical appliance which has (by traditional esteem) the character of a necessity and replaces an already existing apparatus has a better chance of success than an entirely new device, even though the latter may be cheaper both to buy and to run.

Electrical Association For Women

The EAW was founded in 1924 by Caroline Haslett, an active feminist and suffragette who trained as an electrical engineer (see appendix A). It was partly a splinter group of the Women’s Engineering Society ( founded 1919), but it was also a group funded by the Electricity Commission for publicity and propaganda (Diag. 1.) . The EAW also received money and equipment from the industry (Hugo Hirst Chairman of G.E.C. was a major benefactor), especially from 1932 onwards when the minimum income per annum needed to run the Association and the premises at Regent Street was £1,500.

The EAW was envisioned as an expert body giving advice and instruction to help women to overcome fear of the new source of power, by promoting the domestic use of electricity and appliances as a liberating force for women, thereby increasing domestic consumption. But this is somewhat problematic as the hierarchical structure means that in effect the EAW was a patriarchal organisation, controlled ultimately by the male-dominated industry, that acted consciously or unconsciously to keep women at the home servicing the needs of the male, as ultimately the EAW did not seek to professionalise housework completely by taking it into the market. The EAW was supposed to bridge the gap between the manufacturer, the supplier and most importantly, the customer (EDA did not deal with the customer). In 1924 Caroline Haslett wrote:

It is impossible to expect commercial enterprise alone to fill up this hiatus, and education on simple constructive lines is necessary if the woman in the home is to realise to the full extent, the values of electrical development for domestic purposes. At a moment when the air is thick with suggestions for augmenting and cheapening the supply of electricity, a committee which could voice the woman’s point of view and which could interest the domestic mind in the possibilities of this new development should prove to be of some considerable service to this country.

Throughout its lifetime , the Electrical Association for Women was a predominantly middle-class organisation, that had branches all over the country, often joining up with other womens organisations, such as the Women’s Institute in rural areas, to hold meetings, discussions and demonstrations on “electrical matters”. Reports from The Electrical Age indicate that the branch meetings were not as technical as those held at Headquarters, but more orientated towards homecraft.

Initially the object of the EAW’s existence was seen to be: To give the women in the home useful knowledge of electrical apparatus; and to provide a platform for the expression of the woman’s point of view on all matters relating to electricity which may affect her public or private interests.

By the Second World War the aims of the Association had become:

To make provision for the education of, and to give instruction andtraining to women and others with regard to electrical energy, and in all other branches of domestic science, hygiene and social welfare.

To promote, encourage and further education and research relating to the use of electrical energy in connection with matters of particular interest to women generally and to carry out such research.

To examine persons as to their knowledge with respect to any other branches of domestic science, hygiene and social welfare and to grant diplomas, certificates and prizes in connection with such examination.

Although the EAW was primarily concerned with the labour-saving potential of electricity in the home, and emphasis was placed on the more technical aspects of electricity, it was also seen as an aid for improving health, fitness and hygiene, especially for the working-class woman. A patron of the EAW, Lady Mount Temple said;

I see electricity as the best friend of the middle class woman, and the poor woman, I want the people who have only one servant, or none , to have cheap power in their homes. I want them to have heating plugs in the right place, and plenty of them.

Electricity should be the housewife’s friend, at her command for whatever purpose she may want it. Labour-saving devices are not so much needed in the homes of the leisured, well-off people but they are a necessity to the woman who has a large family.

The large Regent Street headquarters of the EAW was decorated in the modernist style of chrome, steel, and clean angular lines reflecting in its design the image that the Association wished to portray of being modern, up-to-date and efficient . The premises contained a clubroom, a committee room, a library, the Electrical Enquiry Bureau which aimed to test all new designs of household electrical apparatus, for practicality and the Electrical Housecraft School. The school was set up in 1933 as a practice ground for demonstrators, running courses in cooking, nutrition and household management; lectures on “Spring Cleaning and Flexibles”, “Laundry work” and “Catering for a Bridge Party” , and workshop benches for demonstrations of simple electrical repairs.

The EAW also issued diplomas to demonstrators; trained teachers for the electrical housecraft sylubus being taught to secondary school girls; produced charts for the electrical education of children; and issued a certificate in electrical housecraft dependent on examination, for those “who were interested” (initially envisioned as a qualification for servants).

The EAW was a middle class, hierarchical association . Membership of the Association was on two levels: Ordinary allowed attendance at lectures, meetings and visits, and reductions for lecture courses at the Electrical Housecraft School the magazine and badge were extra; Patron membership included all of the above plus use of the club room. The wealthier women who joined tended to be those who were already involved in the industry in some way, usually their husbands owned a supply undertaking, or were electrical manufacturers; the professional members were usually female engineers. These women headed each of the branch organisations, along with titled women such as Lady Astor and Lady Mayoresses. They seemed to treat membership of the Association as social philanthropy and part of their public duty, giving off an air of social superiority particularly in relation to the working-classes.

Their function seems to have been the subsidisation of the activities of the EAW; the social standing that they held in their communities, particularly if they served in local government; and the elitist notion of taste, of being connoisseurs with the ability to discriminate, whereby the minority have taste, the majority do not and have to emulate, or be taught.

Although the EAW claimed that these titled ladies were a sign of “a great womans movement”, in the later 1930s these women no longer seemed to be held in reverence, and did not have such a high profile, it was often difficult to tell who the President was, a position which seemed to have become nominal, a non-active title, and the branch leaders no longer seemed to be titled women, their status no longer necessary as electricity filtered through society.

The members seemed to belong to the middle-classes, teachers, women seeking a professional post , and professional qualifications, although the Association does seem to have an air of being a form of women’s social club, particularly in London, holding bridge afternoons, whist drives and a drama society.

The official voice of the EAW in the various texts and policies produced was that of the few - the “professionals”- the management and the elected committees; whilst the general membership took a passive role and had very little opinion, tending to be lectured at through meetings and the “official organ” The Electrical Age.

The Electrical Association for Women as an active Consumer Group

As a consumer association, the EAW was important for their advisory role on electrical domestic goods; whilst the Association was connected to the industry, it was not dependent on any one particular manufacturer, and so often tested and evaluated appliances from a non-aesthetic, consumer’s point of view, reporting back to the manufacturer improvements that could be carried out. However it must be realised that the EAW was not necessarily unbiased as between brands, as manufacturers often donated appliances for the Electrical Housecraft School and EAW kitchens at their London head quarters, and the Electrical Age always carried plenty of advertising for appliances in their magazine the Electrical Age. Mr. Herbert Morrison of the Ministry of Transport, wrote

...The Association is, and should continue to be on the look-out for any short comings or mistakes in the supply of electricity, and the manufacture of plant and equipment from the point of view of the practical user in the home...the Association should try to watch any proposals for improvements not only on the sales, but on the manufacturing side of the industry, and should endeavour to rectify mistakes, thereby providing a bridge between the industry and the user of its products.

Although the EAW were actively seeking to satisfy their own needs, they were simultaneously of great value to industry; new inventions and redesigns of consumables are essential to the dynamic of consumption, creating new needs, new desires and dissatisfaction with what already exists, creating psychological obsolescence.

The EAW carried out two reports for consideration by the electrical industry, (it seems likely that the reports were prompted by the Electricity Board) assessing the design and performance of appliances; giving the housewife the opportunity to express her own opinion of domestic electrical appliances and any constructive criticism for the improvement and development of the use and efficiency of the appliances. Womens role in the design process was obviously taken seriously, yet because of the domestic nature of the design it is also suggestive of the ideology of “a womans touch” and “her inherent knowledge”. However, familiar domestic machinery had originated in an industrial context, which was based on masculine experience, therefore the EAW were active in reclaiming and redesigning for female needs and contexts.

In 1927 the EAW carried out an investigation by questionnaire (among members) on 11 types of cooker, recommending improvements and new specifications. The questionnaire showed that in some types the oven was too small; more runners for shelves, and a good, removable enamelled lining with rounded corners was needed. Single wire runners instead of slots for the shelves were preferred, as they were easier to clean. In most cases the grill was too small, suitable dimensions suggested were 12 by 10 inches, and a separate grill was preferred. A deep warming cupboard, and a 3-heat switch were necessities, as was a wooden door handle; the whole cooker needed to be enamelled and the boiling plate made flush with the hob. The top made stainless and easily cleaned and should overhang the switches to avoid liquid dropping on to them. The cooker should have easily adjustable legs and 36 inches was agreed to be the most convenient height.

The housewives who were using electric cookers suddenly woke up to the fact that men had designed them and it was now in their power to improve them .The results were fed back to the designer and industry, and the success of the campaign was measured by the large numbers of enquiries from cooker manufactures who wished their designers to read the report.

In 1933 the EAW carried out an enquiry into all domestic appliances looking for mistakes and shortcomings. The completed report again stated that oven interiors should have rounded corners for ease of cleaning, which suggests that their first campaign had only a limited impact on the industry; the report also made the practical suggestions that more fires should have rounded sides for even heat distribution; the bottom of washing machines should slope and drain towards the outlet; there should be more effort in reducing the noise of vacuum cleaners; kettles needed larger spouts; the last bar on an electric fire to be switched off should be the one at the top to prevent carpets from scorching, and that some kind of drying cupboard containing a fan and a heater should be manufactured. The enquiry also recommended that the design should take ergonomics into account, to eliminate fatigue of the worker when using various appliances.

These recommendations for improvement had all been overlooked by the designer and manufacturer, and only by frequent use in the home were the faults discovered yet if these fairly minor improvements were implemented a considerable saving on time and inconvenience on the part of the user would be made.

It is difficult to assess whether the recommendations were taken up by manufacturers, and after both reports were completed the EAW leadership did not seem to press for the changes to be made. Neither reports were ever mentioned again in The Electrical Age, suggesting that the point of the enquiries was not the end result, but the collective, consumer nature of the enquiry almost as if it were an experimental piece of research, for the industry.

In 1928 the EAW published a National Woman’s Specification for the adequate provision and positioning of electrical outlets in new houses. “To ask that during the building of New Houses provision shall be made for the future labour-saving home by the installation of an adequate electrical service”, so that women would have the means to use the new electric, labour-saving appliances, in her servantless home. But this electrical campaigning also took on another dimension, identifying areas where progress in the spread of domestic use of electricity would be hampered. The importance attached to it within the industry can be seen when the campaign was taken up in 1929 by EDA.

The outlet campaign was seen by the EAW as the woman’s point of view in those matters (as indeed were all their campaigns), which was specifically practical, having used and tested the apparatus, and in the case of the outlet campaign was “something to produce light, warmth and power, how, when and where we need it”

The EAW recommended the provision of 3 outlets in the kitchen/scullery for water heater, fan, iron, washing machine, kettle, refrigerator - the cooker wired into a separate switch sunk into the wall at waist height for convenience to minimising stooping: 2 in the living room for fire, vacuum cleaner, fan, kettle and standard lamp: 2 in the dining room for the same apparatus as the living room: 1 in the hall, for fire and vacuum cleaner: 2 in the bedrooms for fire, vacuum cleaner, standard lamp and curling tongs: 1 on the landing for the vacuum cleaner:2 in the bathroom for water heater, towel rail and fire.

The final specification of the outlet campaign was directed at the industry, manufacturers, architects, housing authorities and builders, encouraging the inclusion of electric wiring as a standard building specification; the consideration of the safety aspects of electricity by calling for the earthing of portable electric appliances, especially those used in the kitchen and bathroom and alerting members of the Association to possible dangers and the prevention of accidents; and as an opportunity to begin campaigning for the standardisation of size and dimension in electrical outlets: Foreseeable lack of wired homes, fears of the safety of appliances and lack of a standard voltage and current had been identified by the EAW as major hindrances to the spread of domestic electricity. The campaign seems to also be aimed at raising future consumer expectations as to what should be ‘standard’ in their new home. Their recommendations seem to be rather unrealistic and are the maximum amount that could possibly be expected, but also with this quantity of outlets the theory was that more appliances would be purchased and used conveniently and simultaneously, lack of outlets would hinder new purchases. The continuation of the campaign later by EDA aimed for the more realistic quantity of at least 3 power points.

To put forward “the womans point of view” was seen by the EAW as very important, particularly to band together, and gain some sort of authority and power within the electrical industry, so that woman’s voice could not be ignored. The EAW tried to get more women actively involved in the higher levels of industry by serving on committees of various connected organisations to make sure that the womans point of view would be heard. (see Appendix A). The EAW also put forward the womans point of view to the Electricity Commissioners Committee on Domestic Supplies and Methods of Charge, the first time that a Government committee had consulted women on electrical matters. Later in 1938 the EAW gave evidence before the Committee on Electricity Distribution, which produced the McGowan Report advocating standardisation of electricity supply.

The Electrical Association for Women had a collective, democratic approach to design: there was no individual “heroic designer” and women as consumers had a say in the design of new products. EAW not only promoted womens use of electricity, but also helped develop womens role as consumers by allowing them to suggesting means for improvement, the needs of the market and directions for designs to move towards. For the ambitious leadership of the EAW putting forward “the womans point of view” was seen as very important as it gave the women professional status and some power within the industry, and would ensure that the industry would take the work of the EAW seriously .