Electricity as a modern convenience!

The Home Electrical was the name of this film by GE Co.
It promotes all the modern conveniences that were new at that time, which could be useful in the home. I noticed that some of those appliances could be a safety hazard waiting to happen. I looked at the gears by the washing machine and thought of how careful mother would have to be if children were nearby, while she was washing the clothes. The electric cup used for warm shaving lotion could fall in the sink if full of water with the cord plugged in and cause a shock. The electric cigar lighters would not be a safe thing to leave in a house with children, in case they wanted to stick their finger in it. Those were just a few of my thoughts when I watched this film. I wonder if anyone else may have noticed anything.
We are lucky that today the standards of safety have changed when it concerns electrical appliances. It was such a fad at that time people probably never gave it a thought.

This movie was taken from the open source files under CC license and public domain.
I gather it may have been made around 1915 or so.
The songs I added to the movie are as follows:
Wulitzer Playing Piano Darktown Strutters Ball
The Melody That Made You Mine
Bob Haring Orch Laff It Off
Shell Never Find a Fellow Like Me
Maple Leaf Rag

Hope you enjoy it!
I enjoy old footage.
I wanted to share this one.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Electricity
• Modern
• Appliances
• General
• Electric
• 20th
• century
• early
• 1900s
• women
• ease
• housework
• fad
• ragtime
• music
• vintage

[johnnyk2112]

Awesome, thank......I noticed the freshly hot soldering iron hung up at eye level, when the men walked away. I laughed.....But consider, even as dangerous as we see these now, then, they were much safer and more convenient than the fire and steam, gas and mechanical devices they suddenly replaced.

[Rhonda9]

johnny, Good catch!

[JustaDreamBeliever]

love the old clips awesome

Hiya Rhonda HUGS

[Rhonda9]

Hugs ;)

[bowlingballout]

two thoughts come to mind

Imagine the kids (or even in our day) today needing to use common sense just to survive.

---

The pioneers always take the arrows while their progeny lives easier from their work.

Always nice to see time capsules from other times. :-)

[Rhonda9]

Joseph, Being a pioneer is more exciting!

[MrKEGreene]

One thing we have lost in the intervening century since this this film was made is a sense of personal responsibility. If you once encountered a device, like the cigar lighter (which usually has a switch on it) you were expected to be careful with it.Yes, many of these devices were very easy to have an accident with. So is a modern car. In any century, you have to pay attention to what you are doing and use common sense.

[ijackofftoanime]

That electric clothes mangle makes me cringe.......

[CarGuyZM10]

I get a kick out of the people's names

[glennjgd]

The Oil companies are trying their best to stop free energy ideas from spreading to common ppl.

We need to put an end to this corruption ,start generating your own electricity now.

Visit LT-MAGNET-MOTORdotCOM and get the blueprints . Join the Revolution!!

[DominikDrinkhahn]

I noticed that these apliances weren't even grounded even though these things were made of metal. If a cord in the inner loosens and gets in touch with the steel made case you can get an electric shock. The motors werent covert to prevent them from getting wet due to spilling water (The washing mashine e.g.) But I think children werent in such a danger. As you can see in the commercial only rich people were able to own these machines and they had staff to operate them in seperated rooms.

[MaxwellsDemon2000]

And now please take a seat at our electric chair! :)

[GoblinXXX]

I'm convinced! I'm having my house wired for electricity. I owe these labor saving conveiniances to my wife!

(I thought the same things as you about the gears on the washer and that electric cup. Not in this video, but the first electric fans had no guards arounf the blades!)

For years my family had a sewing machine and toaster like those in the video in our basment, inferited from my grandmother.

[scottjop656]

quite a shame of how little maple leaf rag there is in there...

[clicb4]

I sometimes think about how different things were even just 50 years ago and wonder how different I would've been had I been growing up in a different time period. Even the minor technological advances that I enjoy today are light years more advanced than what you see here. Still, it interesting to see footage of people seeing these now "ancient" items like we see turbo charged cars and modern forms of technology today - as new.

[Jbear9]

All these time-saving devices and we have less time then ever:(