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Details of object number: 0289
Object name:iron
Production date:(ca.) 1900 — 1930
Production period:1. Viertel 20. Jahrhundert
Description:Electric iron with two-pole connection; cast iron body with wooden turned handle. Underframe of perforated iron plate with handle on arched feet.
Hist. crit. notes:Electrification was one of the pioneering innovations of the early 20th century. In South Tyrol, electricity began its triumphant advance shortly before the turn of the last century, ensuring brightly lit households and more efficient workplaces – at least in theory as, apart from the few local industrial companies, potential customers were reluctant to utilise this new energy source.
On 4 March 1897 the municipalities of Bozen/Bolzano and Meran/o signed the contract founding the “Etschwerke”, a company whose purpose was to build and operate an electricity plant located on the Töll/Tel (a step in the Etsch/Adige Valley). The Töll hydropower station was connected to the grid on 5 April 1898 and was followed by other, smaller plants including that in Auer/Ora, which was evidently supplying electricity to Neumarkt/Egna as early as 1901. This is documented by an early invoice dated 20 December 1901 made out to one Nicolaus Ankreuz, a master blacksmith whose workshop was housed in the Neumarkt/Egna arcades. To boost demand for this new energy source, from 1903 the plant also offered free connections for private households: demand nevertheless remained limited.
The first electric iron was patented by an American, Henry Seely, in 1882. One of the pioneers in Europe was Wilhelm Schindler from the Austrian province of Vorarlberg. He founded the Elektra company in Bregenz and brought out his first functional electric iron onto the market in 1888: this is probably why the term “Bregenzer” was still commonly used for electric irons in South Tyrol into the 1930s. Using the new appliance was not without its problems, as early models had no regulation to prevent overheating. Thus the Innsbrucker Nachrichten newspaper of 21 July 1914 reported, on page 5: “Last Sunday, an electric iron caused a fire in the embroidery workshop of the garment manufacturer Michael Hofer in Brixen. As no member of the Hofer family was at home, the dwelling had to be broken into in order to extinguish the fire. The family had wanted to use the electric iron in the morning, but on Sunday the electricity company had cut off the supply from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in order to install a new overhead line. The iron was carelessly left switched on so that, when the electricity company restored power at 4 p.m., the iron was also supplied with electricity. The resulting heat was so great that the wire frame on which the iron rested became red-hot and the flooring caught fire.” (Source: Lukas Morscher, Tiroler Alltagsleben im Ersten Weltkrieg [Everyday life in Tyrol during the First World War] (Innsbruck-Vienna 2014), p. 23).
The problem of overheating would not be solved until the invention of the thermostat in 1925. Irons did not however see widespread use in private households until the middle of the 20th century. Dating from 1903, an identical example of the type of electric iron found in the Museum of Everyday Culture in Neumarkt/Egna was found in the database of the Swiss Museum of Technology (http://www.technik-museum.ch/geraete/paging.asp?p=49).
In addition to the launch of new household appliances, electricity as a new energy source soon led to the invention and patenting of various and sometimes curious new products, such as the “electric hair destroyer”, advertised in the issue of Die Dame of 1 June 1916.
On 4 March 1897 the municipalities of Bozen/Bolzano and Meran/o signed the contract founding the “Etschwerke”, a company whose purpose was to build and operate an electricity plant located on the Töll/Tel (a step in the Etsch/Adige Valley). The Töll hydropower station was connected to the grid on 5 April 1898 and was followed by other, smaller plants including that in Auer/Ora, which was evidently supplying electricity to Neumarkt/Egna as early as 1901. This is documented by an early invoice dated 20 December 1901 made out to one Nicolaus Ankreuz, a master blacksmith whose workshop was housed in the Neumarkt/Egna arcades. To boost demand for this new energy source, from 1903 the plant also offered free connections for private households: demand nevertheless remained limited.
The first electric iron was patented by an American, Henry Seely, in 1882. One of the pioneers in Europe was Wilhelm Schindler from the Austrian province of Vorarlberg. He founded the Elektra company in Bregenz and brought out his first functional electric iron onto the market in 1888: this is probably why the term “Bregenzer” was still commonly used for electric irons in South Tyrol into the 1930s. Using the new appliance was not without its problems, as early models had no regulation to prevent overheating. Thus the Innsbrucker Nachrichten newspaper of 21 July 1914 reported, on page 5: “Last Sunday, an electric iron caused a fire in the embroidery workshop of the garment manufacturer Michael Hofer in Brixen. As no member of the Hofer family was at home, the dwelling had to be broken into in order to extinguish the fire. The family had wanted to use the electric iron in the morning, but on Sunday the electricity company had cut off the supply from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in order to install a new overhead line. The iron was carelessly left switched on so that, when the electricity company restored power at 4 p.m., the iron was also supplied with electricity. The resulting heat was so great that the wire frame on which the iron rested became red-hot and the flooring caught fire.” (Source: Lukas Morscher, Tiroler Alltagsleben im Ersten Weltkrieg [Everyday life in Tyrol during the First World War] (Innsbruck-Vienna 2014), p. 23).
The problem of overheating would not be solved until the invention of the thermostat in 1925. Irons did not however see widespread use in private households until the middle of the 20th century. Dating from 1903, an identical example of the type of electric iron found in the Museum of Everyday Culture in Neumarkt/Egna was found in the database of the Swiss Museum of Technology (http://www.technik-museum.ch/geraete/paging.asp?p=49).
In addition to the launch of new household appliances, electricity as a new energy source soon led to the invention and patenting of various and sometimes curious new products, such as the “electric hair destroyer”, advertised in the issue of Die Dame of 1 June 1916.
Technique:gegossen
gedrechselt
gedrechselt
Dimensions:
- length: 20.5 cm
width: 9.5 cm
height: 14 cm
Physical description:Gusseisen, Holzgriff
Institution:Museum of Popular Culture