Tellie Lectric
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Tellie Lectric ✦
The electrical good luck charm of Engineering and Electrical company, Telectrica Innovations Tellie Lectric was once a face of progress, innovation, and a neon bright future for people across America.
Created halfway through Telectrica Innovations lifespan, this mascot went through a multitude of revisions with many artists brought on board to design the new face of TI. The unnamed artist behind Tellie would put in their public brief that they had been inspired by footage of American marching bands. The hypnotic twirling and precision of the band members reminded them of electricity and the wires that carried them along. Telectrica would then roll out several short animated videos with Tellie Lectric promoting their products, giving safety advice, and reading PSA’s.
As a character made primarily for advertising, Tellie does not have much in the way of story or world, his own company describing him as a “man from everywhere.” However, he had a snappy and confident personality that amplified the preexisting enthusiasm Telectrica customers had for the new wave of technological innovations and progress.
Tellie Lectrics most well known (culturally) features are, of course, Telectricas series of holiday advertisements, such as Tellie in Lightland, Tellies Haunt, and Tellies Electrical Heart. In these shorts, Tellie typically served as a confident helper of those in need, lighting up a block on Christmas, using his electricity to light up walkways and keep children safe on Halloween, and lighting up his heart on Valentine’s Day to encourage others to follow their hearts.
Above: Tellie Lectric Model Sheet
Top of page: Telectrica Innovations Poster
Additionally, Tellie was further ingrained in the public consciousness through Telectricas monthly subscription science newspaper, in which Tellie would walk the readers through the pages, and you could also order experiment kits that had illustrations of Tellie in the instruction book. Tellies personality has always been very benevolent, in cartoons, books, and otherwise. He was presented as an instructional and affable figure who people could rely on, and as such rely on Telectrica Innovations.
Tellie's popularity would die down in the late 60s after Telectricas exhibition at the world fair. Following several months of struggling to stay afloat in an increasingly hostile environment, Telectrica permanently shuttered its doors. After this he would disappear from the public eye for many years. Near the end of the company's lifespan, several talks were arranged around buying the branding rights for Tellie and Telectrica; however, ultimately nobody seemed to want to purchase them.
Here at the Pendog Creative Library we hope to help people learn more about Tellie and his interesting tumultuous history.