Gas in the service of convenience: how advertising promoted the new technological marvel!

At the beginning of the 20th century, gas appliance manufacturers faced a challenge that today we would call a revolution in everyday habits. How could they convince people to abandon the methods of cooking with coal and lighting their homes with candles or kerosene lamps, which had been familiar for generations, in favour of a fuel that was new, invisible and, in the common perception, mysterious?

Advertising, as the language of the emerging consumer culture, had to play a much greater role than just providing information. It was not about encouraging people to choose one of many brands – it was necessary to create a need that did not previously exist. Gas was not only supposed to heat and light homes, but also symbolise the dawn of a new era of modernity.

This change required consumers to invest in new cookers, stoves, lamps and irons, as well as to install gas systems. The biggest challenge, however, was fear – fear of an unknown fuel produced in smoky factories outside the city. Advertising was intended to allay this fear. Posters and press advertisements painted a picture of households where gas meant convenience, cleanliness and safety. Housewives using gas were portrayed as resourceful and modern women, while single men were encouraged by the vision of easier, independent housekeeping.

The message was both anecdotal and precise. Leaflets provided specific calculations – for example, that 1 m³ of gas could be used to iron eight hats or bake three Easter cakes. The advertisements thus combined the promise of a better life with the language of practical benefits.

There were also activities that we would today call direct marketing. In Łódź, at 40 Piotrkowska Street – a place that was a symbol of urban modernity in the interwar period – the Municipal Gasworks ran a shop selling cookers, irons and stoves. Cooking, baking and ironing demonstrations were held there, allowing customers to see for themselves that what was new and unknown could also be simple and convenient.

In this way, gas – initially viewed with suspicion – gained the reputation of being the fuel of the future, and its advertising became a lesson in how to ignite not only burners, but also the imagination of consumers.

We invite you to watch.