Speaking of electricity

The original ice-harvesting post (here) ended with a bonus question: What was the first electricity-driven household item that the family owned?

First a bit of background: we were were told earlier that electricity came to the Lushton farm in 1946 (see here). Assuming that is correct (but see below), then we can specify further that it was in the spring of that year, probably in April, that the farm received electric power. The first electric appliance was, in fact, a refrigerator, likely purchased in May.

I am told that the refrigerator came from the International Harvester store in York. I was unaware that International Harvester used to sell appliances, but according to several sources they did so between 1947 (not 1946!) and 1955. For example, the International Harvester Wikipedia article, states:

Although best known for farm equipment, IH produced home appliances for farmers and nonfarmers alike. This included refrigeration equipment such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and freezers. IH had a refrigeration division of its own, as did other vehicle manufacturers of the time.… The IH appliance division had originally been developed to manufacture commercial-grade items to farmers, most of whom had just received electricity by way of the many electrification projects in the U.S. before and after World War II. Among the offerings were milk coolers and walk-in freezers for produce and meat. Later on, IH courted the farmer’s wife with kitchen refrigerators available in the latest designer styles. The IH spokeswoman for these products was Irma Harding, a factory trademark. These products were introduced in 1947 and sold for less than 10 years. The refrigeration division was sold to Whirlpool Corporation in 1955. Since the time of production was short, IH appliances are rare today.

So, did electricity come to the farm later than originally thought (1947 at the earliest), or did Grandpa and Grandma buy a refrigerator from some other manufacturer? Or did I get the story of the Bullers’ first refrigerator wrong? Further, does the refrigerator from the late 1940s pictured here resemble the family’s first refrigerator?

Other electric appliances soon followed, including a stove for the kitchen and a Forney welder and a (wheel?) grinder for Grandpa’s shop. Sometime later (in the fall of the first or second year after the farm was electrified) Grandpa sold 200 bushels of corn at $2.50 a bushel* and used the money to buy an “electric furnace” for the house. The furnace, which was set in the basement, burned wood or cobs and had an electric fan to push the warm air into the house.

I am certain other electrical appliances were added over the next few years, and I am also told that a kerosene-burning hot water heater was added sometime much later. This enabled family members to take showers of a sort in the basement, albeit not in a dedicated shower stall but merely on the floor itself. There is much more to learn and to document about the Buller farm and house, so please keep those stories coming!


* If the memory of the corn price is correct, this supports the idea that electricity came to the farm in 1947. According to the Trading Economics website (here), corn did not reach $2.50 at all in 1946, but it did hover at or above that price for the last half of 1947 and the first half of 1948. The price did not reach $2.50 a bushel again until 1973. If the $2.50 price is remembered accurately, then we can probably date at least the furnace purchase to late 1947—and likely the refrigerator to earlier that year.