Barton’s advertising agency was hired in 1922 by GE. The young adman’s assignment was to raise the “electrical consciousness” of the average housewife, who made the purchasing decisions about refrigerators, stoves, and washing machines.
For the first twenty-five years of Barton’s life, his father had been pastor of the First Congregational Church of Oak Park, Illinois. The standard biography recounts that at the age of nine Barton had marketed his uncle’s homemade maple syrup so successfully that the man was forced to buy extra supplies from neighbors in order to meet demand.
Barton graduated from Amherst College in 1907, and was voted most likely to succeed in his class. He did not, however, succeed much at first. He was hired to edit a succession of magazines, but they all suffered under his leadership. One was Housekeeper, a publication targeted at what were by then called housewives. So by the time he entered advertising, Barton was a deeply conventional—and religious—man who thoroughly understood housewives, and he felt that salesmanship was his calling. Years later, he wrote a book about Jesus, The Man Nobody Knows. It made the argument that Jesus was “the world’s greatest salesman.” He also wrote hundreds of articles for popular magazines, offering readers advice and inspiration for pursuing the American dream. Barton may have even seen himself as a modern Jesus figure, with electricity in the same miraculous role as the loaves of bread and fi sh, destined to feed, warm, and clothe so many for so little.
Barton’s pro-electricity campaigns were relentless. During the 1920s, GE’s annual advertising budget increased from two million to twelve million dollars a year, and Barton ensured that each family would see two hundred ads per year, mainly in magazines. One typical campaign used the slogan “Make your house a home,” a phrase that has survived to this day. (Barton once said, “We build of imperishable materials, we who work with words.”) The campaign advocated wiring of the entire house, and the ads showed a series of tableaux of happy American families sitting together, surrounded by electrical devices.
Barton is also credited with placing the GE logo, with its scroll lettering, at the center of the marketing strategy, ensuring it was used so often that housewives thought of it as the “initials of a friend.”
Historian Stuart Ewen spotted that GE’s advertising copywriters employed the rhetoric of women’s emancipation to sex up appeals for domestic consumption: vacuum cleaners gave women “new life”; toasters made them “free.” Rural housewives were a special target because they were the marketing route into the electrification of farms, which was stubbornly resisted for decades.
powkey Portable Power Station 350W, 260Wh/70,000mAh Backup Lithium Battery, 110V Pure Sine Wave Power Bank with 2 AC Outlets, Portable Generator for Outdoors Camping Travel Hunting Emergency
$192.98 (as of April 24, 2024 13:58 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Amazon Visa
$23.00 (as of April 24, 2024 13:58 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
200W Portable Power Station, Powkey 120Wh/33,000mAh Power Bank with AC Outlet, 110V 6 Outputs Solar Generator External Battery Pack with LED Light for Home Use and Outdoor Camping
31% Off
Anker Power Bank Power Station 60,000mAh,Portable Outdoor Generator 87W with Smart Digital Display, Retractable Auto Lighting and SOS Mode, Home Backup(PowerCore Reserve 192Wh) for Travel, Camping
$149.99 (as of April 24, 2024 13:58 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
3 Responses
“Howes stressed the importance of the local community and the employment of domestic staff.”
Perhaps electrical power was seen as a savior by those householder who couldn’t afford domestic staff? The electrical appliances, and the power to operate had a cost, but one less than hired help. Point being that electrical power, and the appliances that consumed the power most likely weren’t a hard sell to those who could afford them. We today probably can’t appreciate the change electrical power repented in the daily live of many.
I see again a comment associating terrorist attack & decentralization. Large population centers will be the target of choice for terrorists When/if their localized power generation is destroyed. Power from the grid will be that return there lives back to normal. That should be the case if the conversation doesn’t turn from lambasting the grid to improving it. The citizens of japan have learned how important electrical power is to modern life. They experienced a situation where those off-grid, or on localized generation wouldn’t have fared any better than those on the grid
It makes no more sense to push electricity hundreds of miles using dangerously high voltages that is does to send water through hundreds of miles of pipeline. This is lunacy, sheer utter lunacy when solar and wind power can easily provide our electric power.
What about more efficient electric motors that can run our electric gadgets on 12 or 24 volt power? What about developing more efficient light sources (LED is still expensive, but it needn’t remain so)
What about all the overunity devices which are mysteriously pulled from YouTube for “Terms of Use Violations”?
The best defense against terrorist attacks on our electric power distribution is DECENTRALIZATION.
If the power I pay for is so good, why do my electronic sewing and knitting machines, my computer, and my TV all require not just surge suppressors, but power cleaning surge suppressors to smooth out the spikes and optimize their functioning?
There is a hidden agenda which we are being told doesn’t exist. Our public fool systems are teaching our children to not ask questions. Wake up!
Wow! Men, that was some short article of just 9 pages :) . Is appreciated. Great Info. Thank you