Exposition

1925 · 59293 — Reading PA: Metropolitan Edison Co. 1925. Oblong 4to. 11.5 x 8.25 in. 57 linen-backed silver gelatin photographs nearly all w/ typed captions on versos linen hinges & stubs at gutter margin bound w/ two brass screw-posts at gutter margin recent flexible mylar cover as protection secured w/ screw-posts slight curling at fore-edges still all photos w/ bright strong contrast. This remarkable series of undocumented photographs visually produces the efforts of Metropolitan Edison to further expand their footprint in the Pennsylvania market after electrifying over 35000 customers by 1925. As they accelerated their push to introduce additional electrical appliances following World War I they sponsored trade shows and expositions to advertise the latest available products and even commissioned their employees to regularly make house calls after hours with electrical toasters and lamps with prizes awarded for the most sales. Met-Ed customers could pay for the latest appliances with installments on their monthly electric bills. These images reveal the nighttime lighting illuminating the Electrical Exposition Auditorium on South Fifth in Reading featuring over 30 display booths of local suppliers and contractors wired-in music as well as demonstrators of all the different gadgets showing off their features and uses. “Kill O’Watt†figures as symbols of electrical service were installed at the doorways and with all the different booths and the exhibition space featured a “Court of Illumination†dominated by a life-size nude of the Egyptian Goddess of Light surrounded by 12-foot columns and golden incense burners. Every night and afternoon electric waffle irons and coffee percolators were raffled off and one lucky visitor won the grand prize of a brand-new Frigidaire refrigerator when the Exposition ended. As shown by the photographs visitors to the Electrical Exposition could view huge lighted display maps for the Pennsylvania-New Jersey Super Power System; Frigidaire Refrigerators; miniature home architectural models with cutaways showing the electrification of homes; lighted advertising signs and generators for Exide batteries 1920’s Art Deco Lamps electric train sets and even the most “beautiful booth†from the Philadelphia Electric Co. Supply Dept. with a lavish display of electric vacuums lights lamps toasters percolators fans irons and sound equipment. The Met-Ed Co. filled the entire balcony with the latest insulators meters control devices power transformers and equipment for their system and also featured are salesman sample photo albums displays electric ranges washing machines and more. Of special interest is the photo from Pennsylvania Edison Co. showing “The Story Behind Your Lighting Switch†a motorized mechanical book featuring articulated brass arms turning pages as they slid along the leaves and powered by a small motor. These were produced by the Metropolitan Mechanical Display Co. of New York who were one of the earliest and most successful firms for animatronic and popular powered displays. Metropolitan Edison was originally formed in 1917 after merging Met-Ed with Edison Electric Illuminating Lebanon Valley Electric Light Co. with subsidiaries of Reading Electric Light & Power Neversink and Penn-Ed under W.S. Barstow & E.L. West. We could find no other contemporary surviving visual records of the Electrical Exposition trade literature programs or catalogues in institutional holdings or sales records. See: A History of Met-Ed’s Western Division Met-Ed Centennial 1983; Moody’s Manual of Investments: American and Foreign 1922 pp. 414-418; Reading Times Nov. 7-21 1925 multiple entries & advertisements -- no images. Metropolitan Edison Co., unknown