Cornell University College of Human Ecology Ithaca, NY 14853-4401
Nonprofit Organization U. S. Postage PAID Cornell University
Power Wheels Electric cars now navigate our streets, but a different sort of charged vehicle once roamed the roadways of New York: the Cornell Wattmobile. During the 1930s and 1940s, the trailer, loaded with modern appliances and sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension, toured rural areas to educate citizens about care, use, and repair of home and farm equipment and to “take the mystery out of electricity,� according to an extension bulletin from the era. In visits arranged by 4-H clubs and home bureaus, townspeople could bring in their faulty equipment for repair or ask Wattmobile experts about the basics of electricity. The power-saving efforts intensified during World War II, as people sought to conserve energy to support the U.S. troops.
Courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library