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All about Reddy Kilowatt (sightings, history, memorabilia, items for sale and more)
Reddy Kilowatt has been the mascot of the Springdale High School (PA) sports teams since the Class of 1969 got official permission from Duquesne Light and West Penn power Companies to use him. The Dynamos have had the nickname longer than that because of two power plants located in the school district. Some have also spelled it Redi.
I was visiting my mom over the weekend in Western PA, and she gave me my Reddy Kilowatt oven mitt, stick pin and “Fun on the Range” card that she had found while cleaning out dresser drawers. Hadn’t even remembered this! It’s not dated, but I’m guessing early 70’s when I was about 10.
Mom and I laughed at the irony of it, because there is nothing I have ever been less interested in than cooking! My poor husband will attest to this. Apparently, I felt that “having merited the degree of Reddy Kilowatt Cook” was the pinnacle of my culinary life and I moved on to other adventures.
I attended a summer school cooking program for kids at my high school in the early 70’s. As part of that course, we received a Reddy Kilowatt Cookbook. My very favorite was Reddy Spaghetti (spaghetti made in a pan on the stove). I continued to make this over the years, and it’s a family favorite! If anyone has a cookbook from Erie, PA that includes this recipe, I would love to purchase it for a reasonable price. I wish I still had mine! Good thing I wrote this down years ago and know this recipe by heart!
Our Dad was an Alabama Power Lineman for over 40 years. at one time we actually had the Tallassee, Alabama original neon sign that once was over the front door of the office after they relocated the offices to near the high school football field.
I have my Dads yellow lineman hat with reedy decal still on the front.
My grandfather, Fred Plaehn, was the District Manager of the Iowa Public Service Company from 1927 – 1954. He actually began working for power utility in 1913. I have four Reddy Kilowatt lapel pins. Two are the older ones (Reddy is a bit scary-looking) and two are a bit more modern (but must be older than 1954).
WHY COME YOU CAN’T FINE ANY READY KILOWATT MEMORABILIA
OF LOUISVILLE GAS& ELECTRIC CO.YES I HAVE A SIGN AND SOME SERVICE PIN’S I’ve work their for 35 years and my father in law worked 46 years
Sometime in the mid 60’s my mom attended a cooperative meeting in Redmond, Oregon. Lunch was provided and since my mom was not the sort of person that would have been remotely interested in whatever the speaker or presentation might have been, I’m pretty sure it was the free lunch and an opportunity to get out of the house. At the end of the meeting guests were able to shake the hand of Willie Wirehand on their way out. As I was leaving with my mom a photographer snapped a picture of my 4 or 5 year old self shaking his hand. That picture appeared as the cover on a subsequent issue. I had my moment of fame! That issue surfaced now and again in my parent’s belongings and always caused a chuckle. I would love to see a copy now!
I was just talking about a recipe for hot chicken salad that was in a Reddy Killowat recipe brochure I got at a home extension gathering I went to..Trying to find it
Lori Carvelli and Suzanne Hall Vasas- do you remember a recipe with chocolate chips and Chinese noodles that made a cookie? I don’t think they were baked, but I think here were other ingredients and the chocolate was melted. I grew up taking the cooking classes in the summers in upstate ny in the 60’s
The song played on the Jackson, Mississippi TV station had 2 verses.
The weather, the weather what’s it gonna do?
Here is Reddy Kilowatt to bring the answer to you.
The weather, the weather what’s it gonna be?
Here is Reddy Kilowyto show you on TV.
When I was growing up in Rockford, IL in the 1960s my dad worked for Central Illinois Electric & Gas Co (CIE&G) and they used Reddy as the insignia on their trucks which were orange and black. I loved those trucks and Reddy! Does anyone have any photos/pictures of any of these trucks? If so contact me at orangechief58@yahoo.com
When I was little and the Electric Bill came in the mail. I would tell my mom that the Shocking bill was here because of Reddy Kilowatt’s picture on the envelope.
I am writing a story about Reddy Kilowatt for an electric company’s newsletter. Would any of you be willing to speak with me? My email is vanessainfanzon@gmail.com
Thank you
When I was 5yo (1972), at our school, as I think it is or at least was anyway, the same as most schools, kindergarten was 1/2 days and I had AM kindergarten, and was supposed to come home and take a nap with my Mom, instead while she was sleeping, I was getting into things, and one of those things was her hairpins, LOL. Well I liked to experiment with electronics way back then, one of the things I liked to experiment with was my Mom’s hairpins and stick them in the electrical outlet in the wall, to see what would happen, the results were not good, not bad either it just shocked me a little and I let go really quick, but if memory serves me correctly it blew a fuse as well, LOL, either way my Mom was not happy, nor my Dad when he got home, lol and I think I tried this on more than one occasion. Again if memory serves me correctly, in my head at that time I was trying to figure out how a light bulb worked, I somehow knew it very vaguely worked on that basis, however I had no idea the different materials used to make it work, LOL As a result, my Uncle Chuck used to call me “Ready Kill-a-Watt” after that, our family still jokes about it, especially if both Uncle Chuck and I are both around at the same time
I can still remember the poem on my bus transfers when I was a kid: My name is ready kilowatt, I work with all my might.
If homes are wired to let me in, i’ll work from morn to night. Just plug me in and watch me work, without a bit of fuss. I’ll cook your meals, turn factory wheel and take you on my bus! Brings back old memories. (I’m 70)
When I was in grade school we had a Hollween contest. We all had to dress up .My moms idea was for me to dress up as Reddy Kilowatt. I believe it was 1959. When I think about it I looked ridiculous . I wore red tights a red sweater ,put a nylon hose covering my whole head,a balloon on my nose,and we configured a coat hanger to look like lightning zigzag on my head. I didn’t win imagine that.
I remember going to cooking class at Penn Cambria high school, the classes were held in the home economic class room.What a thrill to be in Reddy Kilowatt class sponsored by Penelec. We made pizza burgers wacky cakes .I only remember the two recipes but I am sure there were more recipes but my memory eludes me as this had to be forty or fifty years ago. You see there wasn’t much to do in the small town of Cresson Pa . This is truly a very good memory. Does anyone have a copy of the recipe? I can see a picture of Reddy Kilowatt on the front page.
Laughing joyfully! I was Ready Kilowatt! Our teacher in cooking school snuck me aside and asked me to be him. She said “you are just the right size, can you keep a secret and not tell your classmates?” I did! As Reddy Kilowatt, in August of 1970, I wore a red shiny electric bolt velcroed suit and had a light bulb head! I was given the distinguished honor to award each of my little classmates for cooking school a little Ready Kilowatt pin and her cooking certificate! I wore white gloves and stifled my giggles when all of the other little girls kept saying; where’s Lori? We were 8 year olds at Penelec cooking school and I remember it like yesterday. I can still smell those hot-diggity dogs and made them for my three daughters! We made the newspaper, the Warren Times Observer! We’re 53 years old now and I went on to extend my love for cooking to family, friends and for the masses in Jamestown and Ashville NY!
I remember Reddy Killowatt when I was a little boy during the sixties in Mississippi. We would be out playing and everyday if we were close enough to the living room we could here the weather jingle, it went like this, The weather, the weather, whats it gonna be, here is Redi kilo o watt to tell you on TV. If we didn’t hear it ourselves mom would call us in for dinner. Then we would hear it coming in or shortly after taking a seat for dinner. This was always our cue for dinner.
Oh my goodness, I remember Reddy Kilowatts and I tell the story to my children. They would always ask me what he looked like, I would try to explain it to him how he use to come out every-year at Gulf States Christmas party or the Easter programs and scared the mess out of us children. From the age of birth to 11 years old, I remember seeing and believing in him, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, in Lake Charles, Gulf States Electric. So great to see him! So grateful that I was able to show my grown children a picture of him. Wonderful childhood memory that I shared (verbally) with my children every season and now I finally get to see him again. Thanks and God bless. I am now 63 years old.
I remember seeing Reddy’s image on bucket trucks for Louisiana Power and Light Company (LP&L) as late as the mid to late 1970s. He may have even been on commercial bumpers for one of our local meteoroigists on TV for several years, IF I recall correctly.
My grandfather was Charles Bader. Who drew Reddy Kilowatt for many years. I grew up with Reddy. Is there any way to tell which pictures he actually drew?
use to sang a song before the weather was given in Mississippi in the sixties as a jingle that goes like this: The weather, the weather, whats it gonna be, here is Redi kilo o watt to tell you on tv !!!
When I was in elementary school (late ’60s) the local Penelec (Pennsylvania Electric Company) sponsored 1-week cooking classes during the summer for elementary-aged girls. I went 2 or 3 summers. They had a contest for an art project showing Reddy Kilowatt, which I won one of those years.
My father worked as a service supervisor for the Ohio Power Company. We had Reddy Kilowatt pins, the Lucite figure that holds cards, you name it, he was all over the house. It is a beloved memory from my childhood. Can’t believe how pricey these items are now on Ebay. The sight of him always brings a smile to me!
I remember taking a class field trip in grade school in Kawkawlin, Mi to Consumers Power Company. We received a small lapel stick pin of Reddy Kilowatt. Not sure what happened to mine, but I just thought about it the other day since I have a niece that works for Consumers Energy now.
I remember Reddy warning that if we didn’t handle electricity properly, someone would “get a hotfoot!” I have mentioned the phrase, but no one I know remembers it. I didn’t find it on this site, but I thought it was a GREAT quotation!!
I remember when The Illuminating Company sponsored the high school quiz “It’s Academic” on WEWS in Cleveland, from about the late 1960s until 1972, there was a glass (I think) rendering of Reddy Kilowatt’s head behind each team’s podium, and when the final Grab Bag round was about to begin, the host at the time, Don Cameron, sometimes reminded teams to “light up those Reddy Kilowatts” if they wanted to ring in and answer a question. Also, in the 1971-72 season, the opening sequence on Cleveland’s “It’s Academic” was an animated film of Reddy flipping old T-handled electric switches. When he flipped the first switch, the show title lit up in a lightbulb-type font, and when he flipped the second switch, the show’s sponsor lit up similarly. (Current Washington “It’s Academic” producer Susan Altman remembers this, because she was involved in producing the Cleveland show back then. I found out about this from her on May 14, 2011 when I saw a Washington taping.)
Ready kilowatt lives. Tito franconia formerly know as the red sox manager is ready kilowatt reincarnated in the flesh wearing a suit.