Reddy in April – 1946, 1956 & 1956

Our old pal Reddy Kilowatt hasn't made an appearance on the blog circuit since the holidays. Let's correct that revolting oversight with a look at a few of his April appearances through the years, as well as a current sighting from right in Lorain County – specifically Grafton.

Reddy is ready to do some wiring in this ad that ran on April 10, 1946 in the Lorain Journal.

Ten years later in this handsome ad that ran on April 16, 1956, Reddy encouraged Lorain Countians to enjoy the benefits of electric cooking, with a generous $95 wiring allowance. 

I'm assuming Reddy wanted people to switch from natural gas and not a potbellied stove. Anyway, I'll bet this offer showed ol' Speedy Gas Flame who's the boss. Mess with Reddy and his corporate bosses at Ohio Edison, and the sparks will fly!

Lastly, having already convinced consumers to get their homes wired, and to cook with electricity, Reddy pushed that most important (to me, anyway) electrical luxury: air conditioning. This ad (with an air conditioner that resembled, well, a simple box) ran on April 11, 1966.

So what's Reddy doing in 2026?

He's still hard at work – in Grafton, apparently. I received the following photo recently from contributor Tom Janus. 

Tom wrote, "This spring I have been driving around Grafton and Elyria and found some interesting things.  From your website, I know you’re a fan of the character "Reddy Kilowatt" used by electric companies. I was in Grafton in March and found this unique truck trailer parked near the railroad switch house. I think it contains a mobile generator that can be taken to a neighborhood that has a power outage. It's probably from the 1950s-60s. The faded lettering reads "Central Illinois Public Service Company."

"I also took a picture of the switch house, water tower and a building with a railroad mural.  Grafton is a historically significant town for its railroad history and the site of the first Spitzer automobile dealership."

Thanks for sharing, Tom!

The Passing Scene – Feb. 19, 1966

It's been a while since I posted a "Passing Scene" comic strip from our old pal, cartoonist Gene Patrick. So here's one from sixty years ago today – Feb. 19, 1966. 

Gene was in his second year of producing the comic panel for the Journal. He pretty much had his style established (contrary to his earliest strips in which he was still experimenting with the format).

There's nothing too controversial in the Feb. 19th strip. The bridge to Canada was a pet project of Governor Jim Rhodes; the Journal cast a skeptical eye at the idea in a Feb. 16th editorial.

The idea of U S Steel 'perfuming' its slag operation gave Patrick the chance to poke fun at a popular perfume ad campaign.

Feb. 16, 1966

The last panel features an apparently youthful senior citizen who prefers the teen music show Hullabaloo to old Keystone Kop comedies.

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And for those of you who like to see the "Passing Scene" strip in its proper context, here's the whole page. Hey! There's an Ohio Edison ad with our pal Reddy Kilowatt – what a coincidence!

Reddy for Christmas 1955

Christmas is a time for visiting old friends, and on this blog that includes Reddy Kilowatt.

Reddy kept busy back in December 1955, appearing in Ohio Edison ads almost every day, making sure we had lots of gift ideas that were sure to light up the faces of our spouses. Gift suggestions included a Westinghouse Laundromat, a Westinghouse Refrigerator, and a Tappan Electric Range (what, didn't Westinghouse make one?)

Here are a few ads that ran in the Lorain Journal in December 1955.

Reddy for Thanksgiving

Here's wishing all of my readers and great contributors a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm genuinely thankful that so many of you make this blog a part of your day and leave great comments as well.

Thanksgiving is a good time to visit with friends, and that includes our old pal Reddy Kilowatt. As you can see above, he's checking on his Thanksgiving turkey to see if it's, uh, ready. I'm assuming he's not cooking with gas.

Although Reddy is using a conventional oven, for many years he encouraged Ohio Public Service customers to consider purchasing an electric roaster. Here's Reddy in his younger days promoting Westinghouse Electric Roasters with a free turkey with purchase in an ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on November 1, 1939.

I like that Reddy remembered to say Grace. If it was a long one, at least the heat radiating from his light bulb schnozzola kept his food warm.

A year later, Reddy was still plugging electric roasters in a November 5, 1940 Journal ad. Westinghouse was apparently in the Dog House, because this time the brand was Proctor.

Reddy's serving up a drumstick worthy of King Henry VIII in the ad.

A few weeks later, Reddy grabbed his megaphone to make sure Journal readers got the message to include "smart, modern electrical gifts" on their Christmas shopping list in this ad from November 22, 1940.

And by 1945, Reddy was riding the range and looking much like he does now in this ad.

Reddy for School – Sept. 1940

Before I dismiss blog class this week, let's pay a visit to our favorite electrical sprite, Reddy Kilowatt. Reddy's here with a special back-to-school message in an ad that ran in the Lorain Journal back on Sept. 4, 1940.

Reddy's concerned about children having enough light to study by, so he was offering the services of "a competent, thoroughly trained Home Lighting Advisor" to parents.

"This young woman can tell you quickly and accurately whether or not the lamps by which your children study provide sufficient light to protect their bright, young eyes," Reddy explains.

It's not particularly difficult to see that this is a clever gimmick to get an Ohio Public Service Company representative into your home to do some selling. 

But there is some value in it. I seem to recall Mom being concerned about my siblings and me hurting our eyes when reading in insufficient light. (I also remember her telling us not to sit so close to the TV set.)

As for Reddy, you can see it's a pretty early version of him. Within ten years, he had transformed into the Reddy we know and love, judging by the two ads below that ran in the Journal in September 1950.

Sept. 8, 1950

Sept. 16, 1950

Reddy for the War to End - August 18, 1945

When it was announced in the Lorain Journal on August 14, 1945 that Japan had accepted the Allied unconditional surrender terms, the newspapers advertisers took notice – and immediately placed ads acknowledging the impending end of the war.

One of the first to appear in the Lorain Journal in the next few days was the above ad for the Ohio Public Service (as Ohio Edison was known then).

It's got a great message, promoting free enterprise as the means to achieve a good living the American Way. And Reddy – dressed like a lineman – salutes and signs off personally on the ad with his signature.

Whether this and other ads were already created and 'in the can,' ready for use when the war ended, I'm not sure. But it's very likely.

I remember asking Mom decades ago if she remembered there being any concern or worry in Lorain that we might lose the war. Her response was that when we first declared war on Japan, and then Germany, there was certainly concern and apprehension.

Perhaps Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, Lorain's Number 1 son, helped soothe frayed nerves in his hometown when he appeared in Lorain to dedicate a monument in Lakeview Park in August 1942.

As the front page article below in the August 31, 1942 Lorain Journal notes, "Where do we go from here?" asked Admiral Ernest J. King of his home-town neighbors yesterday. And then he answered his own question with a ringing declaration that thrilled his listeners.

"We're going on to victory, of course. We will win this war."

Reddy for Air Conditioning?

We'll wrap up the week here on the blog with a nice, calming, non-controversial visit from our old pal Reddy Kilowatt singing the praises of air conditioning. 

Maybe our favorite electrical sprite can lower the temperature on the current controversies that have appeared on the blog this week. By the way, this is the 62nd post (out of a total of 4,184) boasting an appearance by Reddy.

The Ohio Edison ad above ran in the Journal on June 18, 1963 and a few other times that summer. I like the highly effective illustration of the overheated crowd of people. It kind of reminds me of the street scene at the beginning of Guys and Dolls.

I don't know about you, but I love air conditioning. I've already had mine on a few times and I just hope I don't have to run it for weeks on end this summer.

While my siblings and I were growing up, we didn't have air conditioning. My parents didn't get it until late in the 1970s. So we kept cool in other ways. 

This 2009 post looks back at some of them.

Feb. 21, 1955 Ads

Seventy years ago, the concept of Presidents Day didn't exist yet. Thus Washington's Birthday was celebrated on the actual day: February 22nd. Above you see our old pal Reddy Kilowatt in an Ohio Edison ad that ran on Feb. 21, 1955 in the Lorain Journal, announcing that Ohio Edison would be closed that day.

Here are some more ads that ran in that same edition of the Journal.

It was a holiday, so there was no school. So what were mothers supposed to do with the kids? Why, take them shoe shopping, of course!

But what about the adults who were lucky enough to have the day off? Well, they could go shopping for a used car at Bob Beck Chevrolet. Remember the distinctive OK Used Car graphic shown in the ad?

Days off are always a good day to get some tasks crossed off the list. Perhaps your TV was on the fritz; you could get it repaired by Nelson and Fain Teleclinlic, located at 1755 Oberlin Avenue – the same location much later as the well-remembered, popular Biggy's Pub and Eatery.

Thinking of those poor kids that were forced to go shoe shopping on their day off from school; maybe their mothers felt guilty later, and treated them to the big cartoon marathon at either the Lorain Theatre on Pearl and the Ohio Theatre.

I'll bet the Disney bigwigs would not have been too happy to see Donald and Goofy sharing the bill with what they probably considered lowly cartoon riff-raff: Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker and Popeye. What, no Tom & Jerry? (Hopefully the theaters didn't pull a bait-and-switch and subject the kids to Casper and/or Baby Huey.)

And for the average Lorainite who wished to celebrate the birthday of the Father of Our Country at the movie theater, there was the city's apparent favorites, the Bowery Boys, at the Dreamland starring in Bowery to Bagdad (as part of an odd double bill with The Caine Mutiny).

October Fun with Reddy

As part of my obsessive effort to post every single Ohio Edison advertisement starring our favorite electrical sprite, Reddy Kilowatt, here's an ample sample of some of his October ads from through the years.

Above you see a handsome Lorain Journal ad from October 2, 1950 featuring a great illustration of Reddy coming out of an outlet. Could this ad have been the inspiration for my Great-grandfather Esterle telling my mother (in a thick German accent) something about seeing a little man come out of the electrical outlet? Mom thought he was talking about a leprechaun but we know better.

A few years later, multiple Reddys appeared in a full-page ad for a special promotional event: a four-day cooking school at the Palace Theater sponsored by the Journal and Westinghouse. It may have been a not-very-subtle effort to sell Westinghouse appliances, but it was popular and well-attended, with daily reports in the Journal. This ad ran on October 19, 1953.

As the 1950s were drawing to close, Reddy was still hard at work pushing electric dryers. By this time, he was no longer in bed (with an electric blanket no doubt) with Westinghouse, as other brands were included. This ad ran in the Journal on October 27, 1959. 

Going into the early 1960s, Reddy was still pushing electric clothes dryers. In a campaign that ran in October 1962, the focus seemed to be on showing how electric dryers could guarantee marital bliss. Oh, if it was only that easy. This ad ran in the Journal on October 2, 1962.

A week later, this follow-up ad appeared on October 9, 1962. 

That's a lot of sheets. Is the 'family' referred to in the ad actually an Army platoon?

Finally, here's an ad from the Journal's October 11, 1965 edition. 

As you can see, it's the beginning of the end for our pal Reddy. Although he was still hawking electric dryers (as he had been for the last 15 years), he was possibly seen as no longer 'current' – and was being reduced to a mere cameo in some ads.

That's okay, Reddy. You did your job well. I've had both gas and electric dryers over the years, and you were right – the electric one is far superior.