The message was electric: Images of electricity were first exploited to sell Victorian products; such advertising helped give electricity itself a high profile and promote technological progress

Nobody sells electricity anymore. So taken for granted is it in our lives that it goes unmentioned and uncredited when electrical appliance manufacturers tout their wares. Even power companies now ¿sell¿ efficiency and goodwill ¿ it is no longer considered appropriate to encourage the public to purchase electric power. Yet it has not always been this way. Indeed, electricity has been one of the most exciting and telling themes in American advertising.