ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses Sue Bowden and Offer's general observation regarding the promotional strategies of the gas industry. It looks at the gas industry's largest trade extravaganza of the interwar period: its contribution to the British Empire Exhibition in 1924. Despite the growing popularity of electricity, the promoters were anxious to assure female consumers that the golden age of gas had not faded with the pre-war Victorian era. Consumers interpreted the new billing system as a clever means of concealing price increases and marketing sub-standard gas. Immediately after the war, production and maintenance costs continued to increase dramatically because of the escalating costs of labour, coal and gas equipment, such as stoves and meters, forcing gas companies to raise their prices for gas and equipment rentals. It also recommended better communication with consumers, noting that the companies which invested in educational publicity, like the South Metropolitan Gas Company, received fewer customer complaints.