Reddy Kilowatt
| Reddy Kilowatt | |
|---|---|
 |
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| First appearance | March 14, 1926 |
| Created by | Ashton B. Collins, Sr. |
| Portrayed by | Walter Tetley |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Your Electric Servant The Mighty Atom |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Electric utility ambassador |
Reddy Kilowatt is a branding character that acted as corporate spokesman for electricity generation in the United States and other countries for over seven decades.
Reddy Kilowatt is drawn as a stick figure whose body and limbs are made of stylized lightning-bolts and whose bulbous head has a light bulb for a nose and wall outlets for ears.
Reddy Kilowatt made his first published appearance on March 14, 1926 in an advertisement in The Birmingham News for the Alabama Power Company (APC). The character was the brainchild of the company’s 40-year-old commercial manager, Ashton B. Collins, Sr..
Like other electric utilities of the period, APC was seeking to grow consumer demand for electrical power. Commercially viable AC generating stations had begun powering North American streets and homes by the end of the 19th century. By the mid-1920s electric utilities had succeeded in bringing electricity to virtually all major cities and towns in North America; however, rural areas remained chronically underserved. In 1930 almost 90 percent of farms in the United States were still without access to electric service. Collins was convinced that the best way to win over new customers, including frugal small business owners and skeptical farmers and rural dwellers, was to give his mostly invisible new commodity a more human face.
According to corporate lore, Collins found his inspiration in a dramatic Alabama lightning storm. As he watched the electric discharges strike the ground, he imagined the dancing limbs of a powerful creature, one that could be harnessed in the service of the public. He turned to a colleague, APC engineer Dan Clinton, to create the first drawings of Reddy Kilowatt, an “electrical servant” with lightning bolt arms and legs, wearing safety gloves and shoes. He added a friendly face with a light bulb nose and wall outlets for ears.
APC copyrighted the character on March 6, 1926. Over the next few years Reddy appeared in print advertising for the company. He made his first three-dimensional appearance at the Alabama Electrical Exposition of 1926.
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