The System Builders

Radical Inventions:

  • New systems
  • Individual or independent inventors

Edison electric light

Conservative Inventions

  • Refinement of existing technologies
  • Corporate inventors and collective labs

The electric system

Edison and the Light Bulb

Household electrification percents

1907 | 8% |
1912 | 16% |
1920 | 34.7% |

Very early (1880s?) electric wiring

Socket Sharing

Socket standards

Household Appliance, c. 1908

An early toaster ad (New York World, 1913)

GE ad, 1936

Household Labor and Gender Roles

Original Gibson Girls, Charles Dana Gibon

Sorority members in the Gibson girl style, 1905

Coco Chanel as Gibson Girl, 1913

Advertising Modernity

Radio