Going Electric: The Changing Face of the Rural Kitchen in Wales, 1945–55

Abstract

I'm glad that I have lived to experience the best of two worlds: the pre-electric era with its open hearth and peat fire, and now the convenience of modern-day appliances, the press-the-button era!

This quotation is from a letter written by a female correspondent from rural north Wales in 1987. By and large, over thirty years have elapsed since electricity was brought to rural Wales, and consequently it seemed that time was ripe to capture the memories of the rural housewives who had experienced the excitement of having this new ‘clean’ power brought to their homes for the first time. They would be the only informants who could assist the social historian to realize the significance of the change it brought with it.