CELEBRATING THE CONSUMER The who, why, how when and where of Which?
IT began with new-fangled electric kettles being tested in a garage in London’s East End in 1957.
As home appliances from TVs to fridges flooded the high street in the Fifties’ post-war boom, three friends hit on the idea of checking them out to see wh which was best value – and the safest.
N Now 60 years on, Which? is a household nam name permanently on the boil as it champio pions consumer rights in the UK.
A All because Michael Young and Am American couple Dorothy and Ray G Goodman dreamed up the Consumers’ Association and a monthly magazine that has changed the way we shop.
When rationing ended and home ow ownership began to boom, a bewildering ran range of new electrical products left many peo people – like the newlywed Goodmans –c – confused about how to separate the goo good from the bad and dangerous.
Safety
Together with Michael they decided to research the information themselves, with the aim of raising safety standards and informing the public on value money.
For the first Which? edition in October 1957, £10 was shelled out for a kettle laboratory test in a converted garage in Bethnal Green.
The magazine’s launch got little coverage other than a small piece in The Times. Michael said: “After The Times thing, a chap turned up in a taxi and said, ‘I’m from Marks & Spencer and I’ve been told to get 20 copies of your magazine and to take out 20 subscriptions.’ “I thought, ‘God, this is it!’ While the Goodmans moved back to America, Michael – who later became Lord Young and founder of the Open University – carried on with the project. Within a month 10,000 people sent in their 10 shillings – the equivalent of 50 pence – to become members of the then Consumers’ Association, rising to 500,000 in a decade. Today they have more than 1.5 million members – the largest independent consumer body in the UK. And as the organisation celebrates its diamond anniversary, it has no intention of retiring from duty. Editor- in- chief Richard Headland said: “We have come a long wa since the days of poor standards in electri cal appliances, but that doesn’t mean ou work is done.
“We are still finding products not fit fo use, such as exploding tumble dryers. And new threats to household security com through identification fraud.”
Over the last six decades the charit campaigned long and hard for car seat belt to become compulsory after launching