Rees, E (2019) Television, gas and electricity: Consuming comfort and leisure in the British home 1946–65. Journal of Popular Television, 7 (2). pp. 127-143. ISSN 2046-9861
Abstract
The arrival of television into the British home in the post-war period coincided with rising standards of comfort, provided by utilities such as gas and electricity and the devices that they powered. Television, in its capacity as a broadcast medium, was another utility flowing into the post-war home, providing domestic leisure. This article will explore how the material image of the television set became emblematic of the modern, leisure-based home, examining how it was used, in conjunction with gas and electricity, to construct an idealized comfortable home. This relationship was promoted in lifestyle magazines, advertisements, design publications and exhibitions. I will argue that from this relationship an idealized television lifestyle emerged, based around comfort and leisure, which was used to promote the consumption of gas and electricity, thus embedding television’s material form in consumer culture. In this way, the article will position the history of television in relation to the other utilities which shaped the home in this period, namely gas and electricity.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is an author produced version of an article published in The Journal of Popular Television. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | comfort; consumption; domesticity; leisure; post-war Britain; television lifestyle |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 24 Jul 2019 09:04 |
Last Modified: | 01 Jun 2020 00:41 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Intellect |
Identification Number: | 10.1386/jptv.7.2.127_1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:148896 |