Cooking Competition
Technology on the Domestic Market in the 1930s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4019183 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jane Busch (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1983 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 222 |
| Publication date | 1983-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Technology and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0040-165X • E-ISSN: 1097-3729 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/3104038 |
| OpenAlex | W2317757427 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses with open fireplaces because he regarded the hearth as the center of the home. Yet his hearths lacked the functions that once made them literally central: heating and cooking. Cooking remains a fundamental activity in the family dwelling, but it is performed on a range. Whereas the gas range was the best cooking appliance available in the early years of the 20th century, by the early 1930s the electric range had become a serious competitor. Range manufacturers competed with technological and design innovation; by 1940 both gas and electric ranges were very different in performance and appearance from ranges of the 1920s. But it was also essential to foster an awareness and desire among consumers-for, unlike the fireplace, an integral part of the home, the range was an accessory that had to be sold to an uninformed and often apathetic public. Special promotional techniques familiarized consumers with the new ranges, while national advertising campaigns emphasized desirable values. This article examines the product and promotional innovations of the 1930s as manufacturers and utility companies competed for the domestic market. In 1930, 13.7 million American homes used piped gas for cooking, 7.7 million used coal or wood, 6.4 million used oil, 875,000 used electricity, and 25,000 used bottled gas.1 Clearly the gas range was the most popular cooking appliance. Coal and wood stoves accounted for more than a fourth of the total, but their use was declining. Electric cooking, however, was growing (see table 1). Gas ranges still outsold the competition in 1940, but the ratio of their sales to sales of electric ranges had diminished from more than 14:1 to less than 4:1. Many electric ranges were sold to householders without gas service
Biology · Business · Competition (biology) · Economics · Industrial organization · Market competition · Market economy · American Environmental and Regional History
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,18 |
| Citation span | 1998 - 2020 (23) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |