Ascot gas water heater.

Hot water was a luxury for many people in the past, as the water had to be heated on fires or stoves, which was time consuming and inconvenient. As increasing numbers of houses were connected to municipal gas supplies for cooking and lighting in the Victorian era, gas-fired water heaters, known as ‘geysers’, were introduced in the late 1800s, but it took some years before they became popular.

In 1927 the Russian emigree Dr Bernard Freidman founded a company to sell gas appliances named Cookers and Geysers Limited, in Holborn, London. In 1928 they started selling a water heater named the “Ascot”, which was so successful the company was rebranded Ascot Gas Water Heaters Limited in 1933. In the 1930s, Ascot introduced a range of different water heaters for the bathroom and kitchen. They became popular as more people became accustomed to the comforts of indoor plumbing.

This particular Ascot is one of the smaller types, probably from the 1940s or 1950s, and was designed to be used over a sink. 1950s Ascot advertising stressed the water heater's incredible convenience and how it could provide instant hot water at the turn of a tap for just a penny a day in gas.