A nickel will pay to run a 12-inch fan for 12 hours or power a device to clean up to 2,200 square feet of carpet.
At least, that’s the pitch that United Illuminating, which was born as the New Haven Electric Company in 1881, was making in the pages of the Saturday Chronicle, Aug. 28, 1905.
Electricity was still competing with other sources of power. UI, then nestled at the corner of Temple and Crown streets, proclaimed it was “the cheapest power you can buy.”
Join the New Haven Museum‘s photo archivist, Jason Bischoff-Wurstle, and me for a power-ful discussion on this edition of “This Day In New Haven History.” You can listen to the episode by clicking on the audio above or finding it in iTunes or any podcast app under “WNHH Community Radio.”
