Feb

27

Ding Dong!

Filed by mrbill Under House | Comments Off

Strangely enough, this 50-year-old house didn’t have a doorbell, so we added a wireless door chime this afternoon.

Feb

24

Live Better Electrically Printed Ad

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I finally received the “Medallion Home” advertisement that I purchased off eBay. I’ve scanned both pages (from the October 1958 Better Homes and Gardens, featuring Ronald Reagan) and put them up here.

Feb

24

Another LBE Medallion

Filed by mrbill Under House | 1 Comment

Another LBE medallion arrived today; this one was an eBay purchase ($0.99) and is the size of a US fifty-cent piece. The same design is on both sides.

Feb

23

More “Live Better Electrically” history

Filed by mrbill Under House | Comments Off

Thanks to Rich for this bit of information that he got from NEMA:
The Medallion Home Program was created as an adjunct to the
famous GE-sponsored “Live Better Electrically” campaign. In 1960, NEMA took over the administration of the Medallion Home Program to continue the work of promoting safe wiring and electrical installations in new-construction homes. This, [...]

Feb

6

Live Better Electrically

Filed by mrbill Under House, Houston, Pictures, Utilities | 3 Comments

I found this on the garage wall, painted over and dark with 48 years of tarnish. Twenty minutes of scrubbing later (click for bigger/other pictures), we have:

After some Internet searching, I found details here:
To keep demand high, the electrical industry launched the Live Better Electrically, or LBE, campaign in March 1956. It was supported [...]

Feb

2

House Numbering

Filed by Administrator Under House | 1 Comment

The existing street address numbers on the house are a little too “country ducky” for our tastes, so we went looking for alternatives. We’ve found that House Industries makes awesome stainless-steel numbers and letters in the font designed by Richard Neutra, and they’re available through DWR at a cost of $60 each.
After more searching, [...]

Feb

2

Welcome to Fifties House

Filed by mrbill Under House | 4 Comments

Welcome to Fifties House.
My wife and I relocated from Austin, Texas to Houston, Texas in July of 2005, and have finally acquired our dream home – a “Fifties House”. This one was built in 1957.
The moving truck is gone, and we’ve settled in. Most everything is unpacked.
This weblog will chronicle our [...]