Summary

Flyer issued by Lawrence & Hanson Electrical Co Ltd, promoting Hecla appliances, Melbourne, for the season of 1924.

This four page flyer advertises Hecla 'fires', as Hecla electric heaters were known, and kettles. The models of heaters illustrated and promoted include the Jupiter, Don [which could be inverted for cooking], Perfex, Renown, Imperial and Century. The heaters came in 9 and 12 inch versions. A solid copper nickel-plated 'Hecla Electric Kettle' was also illustrated and promoted. This kettle was fitted with a safety automatic overheat cut-off to prevent the kettle from boiling dry, and the kettle was thus described as 'burnt-out proof'. The kettles were guaranteed for twelve months.

The flyer also incorporates the first page of a letter printed on Lawrence & Hanson Electrical Co Ltd letterhead addressed to A Flint, Engineer in Charge, Electrical Undertaking, Town of Maryborough, Victoria, on 13 May 1924. It outlines a quote for electrical equipment including a 'measurement' house service meter, a chart recording voltmeter, and a record moving coil portable millivolt meter, It is not clear whether this letter is a novel advertising strategy designed to be part of the flyer, or if the flyer is simply a proof page from the printer with a range of different documents printed on the same bi-fold piece of paper. Regardless of its intention, it provides an interesting overview of the diverse business focus of Lawrence & Hanson Electrical Co Ltd.

Physical Description

Quarto size flyer folded in half and consisting of four pages printed double-sided. One page is letterhead, two pages illustrate Hecla products and one page lists conditions of quotation.

Title

'The Lawrence & Hanson Elecrical Co. Ltd. "Hecla" Fires Season 1924.' 'The Lawrence & Hanson Elecrical Co. Ltd. "Hecla" Electric Kettle. Solid Copper Nickel-Plated.' 'The Lawrence & Hanson Elecrical Co. Limited, Electrical Engineers and Suppliers of Electrical Goods, 398 Post Office Place, Two Minutes from G.P.O., Melbourne.'

Significance

This flyer provides insight into the electricity supply and retail industry in Melbourne in the early 1920s, a time when electricity supply and management became centralised and when many domestic homes were linked to the electricity grid. The sale of small electrical appliances boomed in this period, and this flyer highlights the role in this retail boom of an important Melbourne manufacturer, Hecla Electrics.

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