century would produce. Before radios, refrigerators, telephones or washing machines, the new light would become the first modern fixture of the American home. Above all else, it was the promise of light that drove the expansion of electric wiring to every nook & cranny of the nation.
    V.S. Johnson was a consummate salesman. From the beginning he employed the top engineers and designers of the age so as to produce not only the highest quality lamps but also employing the latest in artwork and design. Travelling through the Aladdin product line brings one face to face with the evolving trends and fancies of American culture. The company was a pioneer in radio advertised programming. One of the very first paid commercial radio messages was broadcast in 1927 from a radio station in Iowa. The spot fetched a whopping $500 for the new station (a lot of money for the time), and resulted in over 2,000 cards and letters asking for more information. The company went on to sponsor country dances and other music shows on stations throughout the heartland. At WLW in Cincinnati, Smiling Ed McConnell became famous as the "Aladdin Lamp Man" for

1933, 153 of Ed's were collected and published under the title "Smiling Ed McConnell's Favorite Radio Hymns" (Rodeheaver Publisher). Ed McConnell left an indelible mark on this exciting age. Robert Hastings described the effect, "When Smiling Ed McConnell sand and described the Aladdin magic lamp, he made everyone with electric lights wish he were living in the country so he could buy one of those kerosene lamps that were so easy on the kids eyes and so hard on rural darkness."
    Aladdin sold its first electric lamps as early as 1915. These early products were conversion kits for the Style 150 kerosene floor lamp. The company converted lamp, Model 6, sold with an elegant silk shade, was very high-end for the time; marketed exclusively to city dwellers. In 1930, the large Model 12 kerosene vase lamp (model 785) was introduced. Later that year, this model was modified for electricity and was used to test the market (785E). In late 1930, the first lamps designed specifically for electricity, the 781A pedestal lamps and the 786 vase lamps were test marketed. Encouraged by their reception, the company quickly designed and brought to market several more models. The letter "E" was assigned to these model numbers to distinguish them from the kerosene lamps. E-models were produced and sold from 1930-1932. In 1933, the company began producing its "G" models, a series which lasted some twenty years.
Because of the company's franchise agreements with its distributors, Aladdin was tentative about marketing these early electric lamps. Some of the distributors were positioned to benefit from the new lamps, but others were not. Hence, the very first electric lamps appeared on the market without the Aladdin name or trademark. This continued until 1932, when the company adopted the "Vogue" trademark. Beginning in 1932, Aladdin sold its complete line of lamps and "Whip-o-Lite" shades under the Aladdin trademark name. As an entire generation of had grown up with the high-quality white light of Aladdin's kerosene lamps, the use of Aladdin's name in the new electric lamp industry lent an