Item HT 5026 Electric Radiator - Hecla Electrics Pty Ltd, Perfex, circa 1923-1925

Summary

'Perfex' design electric radiator manufactured by Hecla Electrics Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia circa 1923-1925. A domestic 240 volt AC electric radiator heater, with conical shaped element and circular concave reflector.

Made of sheet metal and finished in oxidised copper, it has a solid copper reflector. The 'Perfex' model came with 9 or 12 inch sized reflectors.

Physical Description

Electric radiator heater, with conical shaped element and circular concave reflector. Simple pressed metal frame with wire grill protecting the conical shaped coiled wire element. Stand is pressed metal with brassy colour and some decorative imprints around the reflector. There is a floral decorative piece attached with a screw at the centre bottom of the radiator, this screw also holds in place the metal stand foot. Electric power cord attached and is covered in brown and white cotton. Metal label attached with two screws to the centre bottom of the reflector visible from the front.

Significance

Hecla Electrics Pty Ltd were a significant Melbourne manufacturing company, who became a household name in the 1920s making small electric appliances such as heaters and kettles. They also made a variety of other electrical appliances for domestic, commercial and military use. The company manufactured electric appliances in Melbourne from about 1922 until the 1980s, although Clarence Marriott, who formed the company, had begun making radiators with his father James in 1899. The company had a reputation for quality products. The company also played an important role within the Australian domestic and commercial appliance industry, both as a leading innovator and through its role in training skilled staff, many of whom went on to work for competitors such as Kambrook, Electrolux and Sunbeam.

This electric coffee percolator represents the typical small domestic appliance that the Hecla company was famous for. Along with other items in the Hecla Collection, it highlights the diversity of electric appliances that the company made. This object also highlights the legacy of high quality design and metal construction work that Clarence and James established for the company, stemming from their early work as talented art metal workers. It also represents the first major period of the take-up of electricity use in the home. This take-up began in the 1920s and 1930s with the use of small appliances, and by the 1950s electricity had become commonplace in the home, and large appliances such as refrigerators and stoves became standard.