eBay seller Atomic Candy always has great old stock vintage toys and collectibles for sale. Currently there’s a really neat item up for grabs. It’s a 1949 Reddy Kilowatt Stick Pin Brooch complete with the original advertising card.
About Reddy: He’s a corporate mascot and, well, “spokesthing,” created in 1926 by Ashton B. Collins, Sr., of the Alabama Power Company. Reddy has a lightbulb for a nose, wall outlets for ears and a torso and limbs made of lightning bolts. The character was licensed to power companies across the United States to represent electricity as a safe and useful utility. Employed by more than 200 different companies at one time, he is rarely seen outside of antique malls and garage sales these days. – REDDYKILOWATT.ORG
By 1949 Reddy was also being used to represent atomic energy ‘as a safe and useful utility.’ This particular promotion has Reddy rhyming:
I’m a busy little atom I split myself in two,
I multiply as many times as I have jobs to do.
It’s kind of endearing, actually – and the Reddy stick pin is a lot of fun. You can find the listing for this cool item here.
1949 Reddy Kilowatt Promotion Card Front (Photo: Atomic Candy)
1949 Reddy Kilowatt Promotion Card Inside With Stick Pin Brooch (Photo: Atomic Candy)
1949 Reddy Kilowatt Promotion Card – Back (Photo: Atomic Candy)
Atomic Flash Deluxe 