Never did I think when they were pushing Reddy Kilowatt that he would end up representing such a large portion of people’s monthly bills.
Reddy Kilowatt was the smiling cartoon mascot for electric companies for much of the 20th century. He was created in 1926 by Ashton B. Collins Sr., a commercial manager for the Alabama Power Company, as a way to give electricity a friendly face. After all, electricity itself was invisible, but Reddy made it look cheerful, modern, safe, and ready to work.
His design was clever: lightning-bolt arms and legs, a light-bulb nose, wall outlets for ears, gloves, shoes, and a big smile. He was often promoted as “Your Electric Servant,” back when electric companies were trying to sell the idea that more electricity meant more comfort, convenience, and progress.
Reddy showed up in ads, school materials, recipe books, buttons, signs, utility trucks, safety campaigns, and even promotional items. By the late 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of utility companies around the world had licensed him. He helped sell everything from electric heat to appliances to the general idea that the modern home should run on electricity.
Looking back, Reddy is a perfect little time capsule. He came from an era when electricity was being sold as the future, and in many ways, it was. But today, when the electric bill shows up, that smiling little lightning man feels a little different.
He was once the friendly face of convenience.
Now he might be the mascot for opening the bill and saying, “How much?”