The iconic AGA cooker
A bastion of the kitchen, the AGA cooker has been around for nearly a century. The cooker was the brainchild of Dr. Gustaf Dalén, a Swedish physicist who, while recovering from an accident that left him blinded, noticed his wife using a messy and time-consuming range cooker and determined to make something cleaner and more economical to run.
His design was a success and first appeared in Britain in 1929. The earliest advert we have in the archive so far is from 1934.
The success in this country comes I think partly from the fact that David Ogilvy (he of Ogilvy and Mather advertising agency later on) worked for AGA in the early years and produced their booklet “The Theory and Practice of Selling an AGA Cooker”. During World War II AGA cookers were supplied to many military establishments as well as general households.
After the war AGA set up a manufacturing plant in 1947 in Shropshire (still in use today). After 30-plus years of only being able to buy an AGA in cream the company introduced in 1956 additional colours of white, grey, pale blue and pale green. This was very typical of post-war Britain when many products were produced in bright pastel colours as a relief from the austerity of the time. More new colours appeared in the 1970s, including black.
According to AGA, the 1960s saw the appearance of the now famous black logo. However, we have an advert in the archive from 1956 that shows a black logo. I am not sure whether they are referring to the change to “AGA” from “Aga” within the logo?
Although originally a solid fuel cooker the 1960s saw a decline in the desire for this type of fuel and therefore AGA introduced both oil and gas cookers to their range. It took until the 1980s for them to introduce an electric option.
The current AGA range features touch-screen controls, induction hobs and infra-red grills. It is remarkable how technology and times may change but one thing is for certin, AGA remains at the heart of the home.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about AGA ovens and cookers. Please let us know in the comments your memories of AGA in the home.
Thanks, Richard
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