Ashton B. Collins, Sr.
| Ashton B. Collins, Sr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Ashton Budd Collins September 14, 1885 |
| Died | December 16, 1976 (aged 91) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Inventor, businessman |
| Spouse(s) | Hughie Beatty “Mez” Collins (m. 1931–76) |
| Children | Ashton B. Collins, Jr. Croom Beatty Collins |
Ashton Budd Collins, Sr. (September 14, 1885 – December 16, 1976) was an American inventor and marketer. He was the creator of Reddy Kilowatt, a popular corporate trade symbol for the electric utility industry for much of the 20th century.
Mr. Collins was working as the commercial manager for the Alabama Power Company in 1926 when he was asked to create a display for the company at the Alabama Electrical Exposition. Like many utilities in the 1920s, the company was seeking to expand its reach into rural areas not yet connected to the electrical grid. Mr. Collins sought to humanize the service as a marketing and public relations tool. In later years, Mr. Collins described how he watched jagged bolts of lightning strike the ground during an electrical storm. The image inspired him to create a lanky stick figure with lighting bolts for arms and legs, a round head with a light bulb for a nose and wall sockets for ears, and a pair of sparks atop his head for hair (or possibly horns). Collins gave the character a pair of safety gloves and a jaunty smile and called his creation “Reddy Kilowatt”. Collins asked Dan Clinton, an Alabama Power engineer, to develop the first sketches of the character for the exhibition and related newspaper advertising. Alabama Power copyrighted Reddy on March 6, 1926 and the character first appeared in print in an advertisement in The Birmingham News eight days later.
In 1933, Collins left Alabama Power to join the fledgling Edison Electric Institute, an association set up to represent investor-owned utilities. Alabama Power allowed him to retain the rights to Reddy Kilowatt and he applied for a U.S. patent for the character in 1933.
A friend, Dorothea Warren, prepared several new renderings of Reddy to help him market the trademark under the banner of the “Reddy Kilowatt Service” to member utilities. While with the EEI Collins travelled the United States promoting the use of electrical energy. He used the opportunity to sell other companies on the value of humanizing their product. By the end of 1934 he had signed up at least six, including Pennsylvania Power and Light. In 1957, Collins incorporated his business for the first time as Reddy Kilowatt, Inc.
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