whoa!!!!!!!!!!!!! what a great site - what a nostalgia trip.
love that Persil advert, with the Microtronic x2000 - and that Electra in the other advert. would i be right in thinking that that was a GL3, as it looks more modern that the pictures i have seen of the GL2.
Hi Jamie. following on from what Tom wrote above, here is a bit more info on the old 'leccy boards'.
The UK was split into a number of 'electricity boards', each covering their own part of the country. There numbered 10 or 11 of them and all were publically owned from the late 1940's through to 1990, when they were privatised.
The great thing was that each area also used to sell electrical goods and appliances, through their own regional chains of shops - 'Your local Electricity Board Shop'.
My second home, as a nipper, was the local branch of Norweb, through which i dragged many a relative. Norweb was the name given to the board providing electricity to the North West of England, stretching from the Scottish borders to the tip of the North Midlands.
The list was:
East Midlands Electricity
Eastern Electricity
London Electricity
MANWEB
Midlands Electricity
Northern Electric
Norweb
Seeboard
South Wales Electricity
South Western Electricity
Southern Electric
&
Yorkshire Electricity
Quite why the North East warrented two boards - Northern Electric & Yorkshire Electricity - whilst the North West did with just one - Norweb - is beyond me.
The electricity boards also used to do deals with manufacturers, which saw fridges, freezers, washers, dryers etc from Zanussi, Servis, Creda, Hotpoint, Philips and Hoover (to name but a few) branded as 'Electra' and sold as exclusives through the board shops, in competition with the independent retailers, the likes of Currys and Comet.
Hoover bucked the trend in that their exclusive models for the boards were still fully branded as Hoover, but were identifiable by a letter 'E' being on the end of the product name.
Zanussi washing machines were identifiable through a non standard colour scheme, as well as the additional feature of a delay timer. this was a unique board feature to enable the user to delay the machines start until late evening - overnight - to early morning, when electricity in the UK was cheaper. This was known as 'Economy 7'.
Anyways, i think that most of that is accurate. let me know if not.
Hope it helps.
Cheers
paul
p.s below is an advert of RobM's, showing Philps and Creda products badged as Electra, with a Hoover 'E' washer and dryer.
