May 29, 2023 00:00:00

How did companies show people its usefulness when electricity came along but wasn't considered a necessity?

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Electricity ' is a common technology in modern life, but at the beginning of the 20th century, electricity was not widely accepted by the general public. Therefore, electric power companies carried out various advertisements to convince the public of the usefulness of electricity and to make them understand that electricity is a necessity.

Featured Advertisement: Electricity! | Inside Adams
https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2013/07/featured-advertisement-electricity/

People Had To Be Convinced of the Usefulness of Electricity | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/people-had-to-be-convinced-of-the-usefulness-of-electricity-21221094/

In the latter half of the 19th century,

Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison made great progress in electricity generation, transmission and distribution technology, and the field of electrical engineering developed rapidly. Alternating current generation and transmission systems were established by George Westinghouse , and electricity changed from a subject of scientific interest to a technology that enriched our daily lives.

Electricity is taken for granted in modern life, but not in the 1920s when it first appeared. When a company introduces a new technology or new product, it will not be accepted unless the people are convinced of how the technology or product is useful and in what situations it is necessary.

Therefore, in 1920, the American electric power company ' New York Edison Company ' posted an advertisement advertising how electricity can help improve the working environment and improve safety.

◆ Appropriate lighting
Properly lighting a store or factory with electricity leads to faster and more accurate work, greatly reducing the chances of errors and accidents.

◆ Improved efficiency
The introduction of electricity eliminates the conventional method of rotating gears using steam, etc., and greatly reduces the risk of health hazards to workers due to noise and environmental pollution.

◆ Cutting excess labor
By introducing an electric belt conveyor, it is possible to automate the handling and transportation of heavy loads such as sand and coal. As such, employees can be freed from very tiring tasks such as haulage and assigned to other departments.

◆ Improved ventilation efficiency
Ventilation is essential from the point of view of workers' health and welfare. It is important to ventilate with electricity so that odors and smoke generated in stores and factories do not become trapped inside.

In addition, the New York Edison Company posted illustrations of examples of various tasks using electricity to convey the usefulness of electricity to readers. Among them, technology that is used daily in modern life such as 'electric mixer', 'electric drill', 'electric soldering iron', 'electric crane' and 'electric freezer' was included.

As a result of the activities to popularize electricity by the New York Edison Company and others, the power generation facility built by the New York Edison Company in 1920 generated 770,000 kilowatts of electricity per hour. 100,000 kWh came to be used.