Ready for more Reddy?

Here’s a quick remembrance of Mr. Kilowatt at a Lorain County Nostalgia site. Ohio Edison was the power company where I grew up (not far from Lorain County, actually).

Reddy-Oneils
Since I spend a lot of time in the Lorain Public Library pouring over microfilm of newspapers from the 1950s and 1960s, it seems that almost every day or so there was an ad for Ohio Edison featuring — who else? — Reddy Kilowatt! I even seem to recall even seeing his image on some of the local electric utility buildings, such as up on the Ohio Edison building on Lake Avenue in Elyria Township.

There’s another Reddy sighting here, from a 1968 Cleveland Indians scorecard. Nice.

9 comments

  1. chris horton

    I have not been able to find anyone that I have met who remembers Reddy Kilowatt. He made quite an impression in my education. Seems like he should still be useful to school children. Glad to find out where he came from. I lived in Michigan and Ohio while growing up and did not know where he came in.
    Thanks

  2. Phil

    I grew up in Lorain and Sheffield Lake, Ohio and remember I had a small lapel pin of him as a small child.
    About a year or two ago I search Google for him and no one had anything on him, to day I was reading a FaceBook wall on Lorain and someone mentioned him, so I searched again.

  3. happimamma

    When I was a kid in the 50’s, while we were on vacation visiting relatives in the deep south, Dad took us to tour an electric facility and they handed out Reddy pins. We loved the tour and we loved the pins! Mom and Dad both grew up in the rural south, without electricity, and it was a long time before being able to flip a switch and have something useful happen, was taken for granted. So, I know how I got my pin but where did other people get theirs?

  4. Lee Snorteland

    I remember seeing Reddy Kilowatt at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Probably got a pin or a post card.
    Haven’t seen him (pin, post card or otherwise) since.

    Looks like a cheerful fellow. Who knows, maybe he’ll reemerge like Speedy Alka-Seltzer did.

  6. Mary Kay

    I have a Reddy Killowat pin. My father worked for NIPSco (Northern Indiana Public Service Company) for many years. He retired in ’75. Anyway, I was going through my “old” stuff and there he was. Looked him up on the computer, and there you were. Brings back many memories. I also remember seeing him on TV in Indiana when I was a child. Just sayin’.

  7. Patricia R. Harper

    I too have a 1950s Reddy Kilowatt Enameled lapel stickpin which came from the Jackson Electric Membership company in Jackson, Michigan. The back is stamped with T.M. Reg. USD94261. If I remember correctly, this pin came in the mail from our power company (Jackson EMC)…I thought it was so cute, and my mom gave it to me to keep as one of my little treasures.

  8. John Erwin

    I was in the Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s Home in Knightstown, Indiana and we played a program with our band at the Indianapolis Power and Light Company and we were given a Readdy Killowat Pin. I gave it to my son who lives in the Chicago area and he still has it!