Wiki for Dr. McClurkens Courses

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====== Nye, 29-132, 138-142, 182-184, 287-291, 304-307, 314-317, 322-338 ======

==== Chapter 2, Great White Way ====

**Nye’s chapter “The Great White Way” discusses the early days of electric lights, from their theatrical antecedents to their use as spectacle in celebration and advertisement.** The term “Great White Way” refers to the use of bright carbon and later incandescent-based street lights that illuminate city paths such as New York’s Broadway and California’s San Francisco. Early, less utilitarian versions of electric lights had been used slightly earlier than the invention of Edison’s electric lights. (29-30) **This is not the only technology or phenomenon that theaters have pioneered, as early brands of makeup also got their start on the stage before becoming commercially-sold goods.** **During these years, electricity was seen as novelty rather than utility,** as common with many of Edison’s inventions, including elements of the phonograph systems that would later become key to the social popularity of playable and record-able sound. In the early twentieth-century, electricity was beloved by many as a symbol of both celebration and the “superiority of the past over the present.” (41) It would not be until the 1920s that electric lights became a “normal” part of daily American life. (69) At the sight of the illuminated Buffalo Tower at the turn of the century, **one writer, Mabel Barnes, remarked that electricity was a “triumph not of Aladdin’s lamp, but of the masters of modern science over the nature-God electricity.”** (49) **//Advertising//**, while controversial to some, was welcomed by others - as tourists greatly enjoyed the bright lights adorning Times Square. (50-2) The proliferation of electric lights across American cities was due to a combination of strong marketing by companies like General Electric and Westinghouse, as well as an American infatuation with notions of “man over nature.” By brightly illuminating the night, there were far fewer limits to man’s activities. **The commercial success of electric lights was partially due to them being used at the right place, sold by the right people, and introduced at the right time.**(==Glynnis Farleigh)

This chapter focused on the early stages of electric lights. I found it interesting, being a theater person myself, that theaters were one of the first places to use electric light. In the text, it states that theaters used arc light because they found that you could make cool effects like a sunrise or sunset with the lights. The chapter also discusses the electric lights effect on the World's fair. **In a sense, the electric light brought people from different places and different walks of life together to one place**. -- Erin Madden

This was a very interesting chapter for me becuase I knew that lights would be used for advertising, but the way that they displayed lights was very cool. I did not know about the extent to which these light displays went to demonstrate the beauty that electricity would provide. This was not just in the United States but it was also around the world. I wish I was alive to see one of these massive spectacles at one of these amazing displays.-Kendell Jenkins

In the chapter “The Great White Way” in Nye’s “Electrifying America” he explains the evolution of electric lighting in the early decades of its presence in American life. From being a spectacle that attracts tourists to fairs and expositions to advertisements and attractions constantly lit in American urban cities. Through this reading the reader grasps all that went into these inventions and developments that are so often overlooked. Typically when learning about electric lighting we are just told that Edison invented the light bulb and sometimes told about the electric system but this exposes readers to the evolution that brings us to today's lighting and electrical systems. Nye also writes about the impact of these developments and how **for cities having a new and bright light display it was a sign of progress and success. Nye also notes the competition between advertisers and the architects of these displays,** these innovations brought about a new market and demanded progress with it. -Emma Monaghan

In chapter one of the book "Electrifying America", author David Nye goes in depth about the early stages of electric light and how it has clearly impacted America. Nye states "Electricity was the sign of Edison's genius, the wonder of the age, the hall mark of progress."(p.1) This meaning that the invention that was electric lighting brought along so many other advances in technology, and it was the building blocks to a progressing economy. Nye state that electric lights, that are able to be seen from distances, were used for advertising originally, before moving onto lighting up complete cities and changing the cultural environment forever.  -Nick Bass

==== Chapter 3, Crosstown Transfer ====

I thought it was interesting that the h**undreds of American Street Railways built were mostly private ventures for those private investors** that helped bring along the development of the “Old Horsecar Lines.” These investors were the ones that mainly focused on Real Estate. An example of someone doing something for a city, however, Henry M. Whitney would put six streetcar companies together to “monopolize” Boston public transit, which in turn would stimulate the sales of the property that he owned that was along a boulevard adjacent to Brookline. – Hunter Dykhuis

Transportation impacts every facet of life. In Crosstown Transfer, Nye addresses how transportation and electricity are related. I'd analyzed how streetcars impacted workers, specifically the beginnings of more rigid zoning laws, but Nye places the streetcar under a social analysis that required looking at looking beyond the reason for invention and the immediate impact of the car itself. **One of the most interesting ideas that the streetcar gave power to the working class. When going out on strike, the working class held an immediate and tangible effect on the middle-class patronages of electric cars. Without the streetcar running, middle-class men could not commute from the suburbs to the city.** -K.Eastridge

==== Chapter 4, What was Electricity? 138-142, 182-184 ====

In the early twentieth century, contained electricity was a revolutionary invention that I believe heavily influenced and strengthened American capitalism. **Unlike countries in Europe, ”Americans treated electrification as a business rather than a social service.”** (140-141) The early days of electricity put stress on policy, as there were different protocols regarding public and private use, in addition to direct vs alternating currents. **Do we in the 21st century still hold the notion that the more electric power there is over alternatives, such as oil & coal, the closer society will be to utopia? Are fully electric products still associated with wealth & status? (Think Tesla vehicles.)** (--Nate Stringer)

Electricity was seen as a commodity for all people to have but businesses did not know how to manage it. Should it be sold privately or should it be publicly sold to everyone. Making electricity privately sold caused issues of using different voltages and and alternating currents. **The idea of electricity sparks the ideas of becoming closer to a utopian society, where everything that we do and use has to deal with electricity.** -Kevin Bach

In response to Nate, I also wonder at what point electric vehicles and alternatives like solar power and bicycling will stop being associated with status. **When will the impoverished gain access to green initiatives? Will the US ever reach sustainability if the federal government doesn’t place its greatest emphasis on renewable resources for all?** Edison and others had already believed electric vehicles were the next big step, but were squashed by the use of cheaper non-renewable resources like gas and oil. It seems now that electricity is contained to the systems that it already exists in, and will have a hard time branching out into other uses until the US switches priority. - Dillyn Scott

**Private and public sectors of electricity was an issue for the spread of electricity throughout the nation and the financial world.** With the industry being integrated, companies would be able to build machines for the range of electricity, but there would be a "duopoly." Private sectors would use their large size to create monopolies from the new technologies of electrical distribution. Public sectors would expand beyond the government. Private sectors always had an advantage though because of them "receiving credit, access to new machines, technical assistance, and help with lobbying and public relations." -Reilly Miller

It's quite astonishing to think about the ways such a common commodity that electricity is today was once such a symbol of wealth and status. Having electricity at the turn of the 20th meant a wide variety of things about you socially. Having electricity in your neighborhood meant you lived in a classy and upscale area. Having electricity running in your own home meant you were living it up with the big shots. Its also worth noting that it didn't take long for a wide variety of upstart companies to take advantage of harvesting this new form of power, which is likely something we will see again if alternative forms of energy such as solar power ever become widespread. - Michael Dietrich

Nye is telling the early beginnings of American electricity and how industries adopted certain practices.The thought of having electricity companies government owned could of made sense when America was smaller in the 1880s, and the correct choice for private utility companies was made. **“Because electrification was privately funded it had to make a profit (Nye 140)” the statement is very simple but makes a lot of sense, businesses are going to do what they need to do to make money**. -John Liberty

It's quite interesting reading how they thought electricity worked, as well as they came into what is more like modern day electricity. -Lauren Blouch

**Electricity started out as a product that everyone wanted and had to pay for and later developed into a “natural right”. (pg 184)** The commodification of electricity was really interesting to read about and wonder what if electricity had been taken over by the national government and ran through it? This is something that I had never previously even known or thought about really. I think that electricity being privatized at the time makes complete sense but it makes me wonder the outcome of it if the government had taken it over. I thought the last section on page 184 really captured the main meaning of what is electricity perfectly. Essentially power companies took something that was a basic right and sold it out to whoever could afford it until finally there was a change where it was seen as something that everyone everywhere would be able to have. - Tory Martin

**The quote on page 139 "during the first decades electrification was fragmented and individualized; each electrical plant was built as an isolated unit to serve a particular need."** This really sets up a lot of ideas about how it was going to develop over the years. Since it was such a new idea, so many were trying to create it their own without listening to each other to attempt to make a more centralized system. Even to this day, the wall outlets are still different from country to country. - Haley Denehy

==== Chapter 7, Rural Lines -- 287-291, 304-307, 314-317, 322-338 ====

I found it interesting to read about Theodore Roosevelt's view on farming and electricity.** When he found only 2% of American farms had electricity, he agreed they should be able to "have that power." They need it for transportation, lighting, and most importantly, for the ability to perform on the farm. Why would the American government not want this to be a priority?** It said event he European governments made this a key part in development. As the book states, " American government only pointed to the problem and expected farmers to organize and secure electrical service for themselves." (p.288) I know they found it "unrealistic", but even if it wasn't, why would they assume the farmers, with such low numbers in the first place, were able to easily establish this? --- Erika M

The all-inclusiveness of Teddy Roosevelt's thoughts on electricity and rural society's integration was very progressive for the time and very in line with how he acted as president. -Cameron Wills

Theodore Roosevelt sought to increase access of electricity to rural/farm areas. The push to provide those American’s with what we now take for granted, allowed farmers to progress at the speed of lightening (pun intended). - Elizabeth Davis

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