It was employees, many unidentified in these images, whose work built the foundations of electrical service in the state.
The nature of work in the electric industry has changed over the past 120 years. Early workers relied on horse drawn wagons, mechanical technology, and their own agility, while workers today use bucket trucks, advanced digital equipment, and far more comprehensive safety devices.
Members of the Portland Cumberland County Power & Light crew at left, pose on truck No. 6-12.
The employees are, from left, Walter Pierce, Frankie Lambert, Bill Girard, Ray Benson, and Guy Hunter -- all on the bed of the truck; and Herman Prevost , Sid Boudnay, and Charley Foren, standing on the ground.
Posing with Portland Railroad Co. Car #175 are, from left, Frank Roderick, Eben Walker, superintendent of St. John Street; David Welk, Bill Witham, Lawrence Ebbesen, Jim McCusick, Frank Larrabee with Bill Bailey, the cat; Fat Houghton, Larry Steele, Tripp, Charley Weatherbee, and Adolph Gallant.
Employees of York County Power Co. are, from left, Ferdinand Octavius Bouthilette, also known as Pat Brown, the Biddeford Appliance credit manager; Ella E. Tarbox, bookkeeper and later office clerk; Marjoline Patten, office bookkeeper; Albert Cartier, store salesman and office boy; Elna Campbell, office bookkeeper; Frances E. Googins, supervisor of office bookkeeping; Jeremy G. Shaw, one of the company's founders; William E. Shaw, son of the founder and manager of the Biddeford office; Frances Buzzell, office bookkeeper; and Eve Cartier, Biddeford Store cashier.
Jeremy Shaw founded York Light & Heat Co., which was incorporated March 12, 1891. The utility later became York County Power Co., then became part of Cumberland County Power & Light in 1914, and finally, part of Central Maine Power Co.
Cumberland County Power and Light was incorporated in 1909 and served southern Maine until its merger with Central Maine Power in 1942.
The CCP&L showroom and the signage on the vehicles all promote the "Easy" brand of appliances.
Writing on the car roofs announces, "Try One Free." One sign notes the company's 50th anniversary, harkening back to the founding in 1877 of the Cumberland Illuminating Company.
Larger companies acquired smaller ones before CCP&L was formed.
Wendell B. Willett (1918-2008), a lifelong resident of Saco, worked for Cumberland County Power & Light and the Central Maine Power Company for over 40 years.
His identification card shows his image and his job, "meter reader."
He attended the Thornton Academy where he was a member of the basketball team, served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, and later served as the Saco police and fire commissioner for the City of Saco.
Grace Auber (1893-1992) of Gardiner was honored in 1948 for 30 years of service in the payroll department at Central Maine Power's headquarters in Augusta.
Jean Baptiste (John) Vigue, born 1890 in St. Georges, Quebec, joined CMP in 1909 when it was still known as Messalonskee Electric Company.
Vigue, left, is being honored for 40 years of service with CMP. Two of Vigue’s sons, Albert and Donald, also worked for CMP.
Vigue gained a reputation for speed and vigor as a lineman, and according to one estimate, helped build roughly 700 miles of transmission in his 43 years of service.
During the construction of transmission lines from Lewiston to Solon one winter, the linemen slept in eight-man tents pitched amidst four feet of snow. The nights were extremely cold and the men had only a portable woodstove to keep them warm.
Late one night, Vigue and his tent mates woke up to see the stars shining overhead – the top of their tent had caught a spark and smoldered down to the level of the snow.
From then on, linemen were put up in hotels in town.
The growth of the electrical industry in the United States coincided with an increased awareness of workplace safety as an economic and humanitarian concern.
By the 1880s electric companies understood that electrical current could kill people and cause fires.
Safety equipment and protective devices such as fuses and circuit breakers were introduced, and in 1894 the Underwriters Electric Bureau introduced safety standards and building codes.
Several organizations lobbied for increased education, safer equipment, and more support of workers injured on the job.
This kit, developed for electrical workers in 1914, is contained in a glass bowl "because it permits a more sanitary outfit than could be obtained by the ordinary wooden or metal box usually employed for first aid kits."
Private companies such as the United Gas Improvement Company of Philadelphia also participated, printing and distributing first-aid directions for workers and developing kits of medical equipment suitable for specific industrial needs such as electric shock or gas inhalation, all in an effort to make "Safety First" the cornerstone of American industrial practices.
The United Gas Improvement Co. produced this first-aid booklet.
Members of the Central Maine Power Co. Eastern Division First Aid Team from Rockland, dressed in white with bowties, are, from left, Carl Stevens, captain; Lloyd Jameson, Leon Fickett, Gordon Taitt, and Eugene Tripp.
The team members were linemen.
The company stressed safety for its employees and trained those dealing with the power supply in electric-related first aid.
This "Danger of Death, Keep Off" sign is part of the emphasis on safety.
Organizations such as the National Safety Council, the National Associated Safety Organizations, or the American Society of Safety Engineers lobbied for increased education, safer equipment, and more support of workers injured on the job.
Roland S. Rand, Central Maine Power Co.'s district manager for the Lewiston-Auburn region in the 1950s, carried this pouch, which contained a pair of leather gloves and a pair of rubber gloves.
The industrial hard hat was developed in the 1920s. Early models were made of steel or aluminum and patterned after the "doughboy" helmets worn by soldiers in World War I.
Non-conductive fiberglass and plastic eventually replaced metal as the preferred material, especially for use around electrical lines.
William Bashlin of Grove City, Pennsylvania, started the W.M. Bashlin Company in his garage in 1926 to develop equipment for electrical linemen that was comfortable as well as safe.
These climbing irons, or gaffs, are padded and adjustable to fit snugly on the legs of linemen of all sizes.
