Reddy Kilowatt Farm Better Electrically 1930 Tapestry

Reddy Kilowatt is a fictional character that acted as spokesman for electricity generation in the United States for over 70 years. He is drawn as a stick figure whose body, limbs, and hair are made of stylized lightning bolts and whose bulbous head has a light bulb for a nose and wall outlets for ears. His primary purpose was to put a friendly face on the newfangled electrical systems that were commonplace in the cities in the 1920s, but rural areas remained chronically underserved as people had many misconceptions about electricity. In 1930 almost 90 percent of farms in the United States were still without access to electric service, so new messaging targeting farmers were deployed to win over skeptical rural residents.