Demons of Domesticity: Women and the English Gas Industry, 1889-1939

Women first found employment with the English gas industry, not as clerical workers, but as professional demonstrators and publicists. Nicknamed ’lady demons’, short for lady demonstrators, these certified cookery teachers instructed ladies, servants and working-class housewives how to use and maintain gas cookers and appliances. Demons of Domesticity considers the development of employment opportunities for women in the English gas industry from the 1880s to the 1930s, with a particular emphasis on the city of London and the Home Counties. It addresses the corresponding expansion and diversification of the industry’s marketing strategies, and the important role played by women, as both purveyors and consumers of domestic utility services. Demons of Domesticity increases our understanding of the shifting relationships between gender, work and consumerism, moving towards an appreciation of how discursive relationships construct popular perceptions of new and existing technologies.

Anne Clendinning, Nipissing University, Canada.