The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
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Electricity - Power for Good
The NEEB sells an electrical future for modern homes and industries in the 1960s.
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Overview
The North East Electricity Board suggests customers “get up to date – go electric” in a persuasive 1960s advertising film set to a jaunty musical score. The NEEB projects an image of electricity as modern, progressive and liberating, their Carliol House showrooms in Newcastle full of gleaming appliances, chrome designs, and English Electric ovens for space age cooking. Stick around for a pacy closing montage of electrical gadgetry in industry, office and home.
In the decade of the ‘Space Race’ even homes were wired for the future. The electricity supply was nationalised in 1947 and the consumer boom in electrical goods fuelled demand. New technology emphasised efficiency and productivity, a point illustrated in the impressive number of scenes of mechanised industries across the North East featured in this film by Newcastle-based Turners Film Productions - shocking pink yarn on textile looms at Paton and Baldwin’s in Darlington, giant steel rolling mills at Dorman Long in Middlesbrough, electric welding at Swan Hunters shipyard, and the “Miracle Milker” for dairy farms, promoted at the Great Yorkshire Show.
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