The Shoebox

How Cold? Ice Cold. (1940)

A Diver named Tilton works on a 33kV cable in the chilly water at the Amoskeag canal. Photo taken February 28, 1940.

Brook Street Garage (c. 1940s)

Employees get ready for work on a winter’s day at PSNH’s Brook Street garage in Manchester’s millyard. Though automotive work is currently done next door, this garage still houses meter reading vehicles today.

Loud and Clear (1947)

Linemen Bernard Mudgett and Don Smith using a two-way radio in Laconia.

And This is All My Pay (1947)

Here is an electric bill from April 1947. The customer used 190 kilowatt hours, which is about ⅓ the electricity that the average residential customer uses today. At $5.96, the bill may seem cheap, but it doesn’t compare to this one from 1897!

Most interesting is this little poem by Reddy Kilowatt, who appears to be stepping out of an electrical outlet:

One full month I’ve labored
And this is all my pay
Divide this sum by thirty—
See how cheap I worked each day.

Doing the Books (1940)

View of Accounting Department showing employees at their stations. August 16, 1940.

“Electricity Does the Job Better and Cheaper” (1947)

PSNH display at Lancaster Fair.