It's hot out there! That's why we're staying cool this week with the Standard Air Conditioning company, who presented this trade show exhibition booth of air conditioning units for the National Electrical and Radio Exposition in New York City in September, 1934.
This photograph is part of Hagley Library's National Electrical and Radio Exposition album (Accession 2015.289). The trade show was held in New York City at Madison Square Garden from September 19th to the 29th, and was one of the annual radio and electronic products trade shows held in the city in the 1920s through the 1940s.
Similar expositions during the era were hosted in other major U.S. cities sponsored by local trade associations that brought together manufacturers, retailers, and customers.The expositions included national manufacturers and large retailers from around the country to display, demonstrate, and sell their products.
Among the more prominent products featured at the expositions during this period were radios, household appliances (vacuums, ovens, refrigerators, etc.), home/industrial lighting, and heating/air conditioning technology.This collection includes 45 photographs taken during the exposition. The photographs are primarily of various companies' individual displays. Companies represented include RCA, Westinghouse Electric, Singer Sewing Machine, General Electric, Hoover, Leonard, among others. To view more photographs from this album online now, click here.