All Electric House
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 Welcome to the 1950’s "All
Electric House", a place were the past comes alive. Built by the General Electric
Company in 1953, the "All Electric House" was the dream home of the future.
The house was one of many exhibition homes in northeast Johnson
County in the early 1950s. The house was full of electrical innovations meant to
make life easier for a suburban family. It was a model home featuring everything from an
electrical washer and dryer to a remote control to open and close the blinds. It was
also built for the purpose of deciding if electrical appliances would work better than gas
ones. The Emery Bird Thayer (EBT) department store was responsible for
decorating and furnishing the house for the period when it was open for exhibition. People came from all over the area to come and gawk at this
new revolutionary house.The house was originally located at 4602 Homestead Drive in
Prairie
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Village
Kansas. Today it is located on the Johnson County Museum property in Shawnee, Kansas. It
became an addition to the museum when the owners of the house were going to tear down the
house and build a bigger one. However, just before the house was about to be reduced to a
pile of rubble, the owners found some newspaper clippings in the garage. After finding
that the house was historical, the owners donated the house to the Johnson County Museum
of History. In 1994, the house was spilt into two halves and moved to its new home behind
the museum.
Today, you can
visit the "All Electric House" at the Johnson County Museum. Fees are only $1
for children under 12 and $2 for adults. The electric house is a way to step back into the
early and mid 1950’s and see what life was like then.
Fifties Links