Traditional non-electric irons - sad irons, box irons, gas irons, spirit irons - continued to be available well into the 1930s. The examples in the SImply Switch On...! collection are included for comparison and are contemporary with the collection's electric irons.

• 1873 Middleton flat iron
• 1935 Radiation gas iron
• 1939 Tilley spirit iron

1873 Middleton model 4 UK Typical 19th century sad iron, number 4 weight (4lbs?). Name 'T & S Middleton' cast on to iron, 'Woodward, registered October 1873' inscribed on separate steel handle grip. Steeply-raked handle compared to most other designs. This type of basic, cast, sad iron was still available in the 1930s.
c1935 Radiation The Rhythm model 375U UK Popular gas iron c.1925-C1945. Later version of Clark's 'Fairy Pince' model 375U. Late design registration number, 818703 (1937), iron is certainly a lot earlier. Green vitreous enamel cowl and berner unit, black vitreous enamel cowl top and handle stems. Black phenol plastic handle. Green vitreous enamel stand/trivet. Early versions known as Radiation 'Fairy Prince', before name change to 'The Rhythm'.
1939 Tilley model 250 UK 19th Century technology, paraffin-burning iron combined with dramatic streamlined styling from contemporary thermostat electric irons. Tall black phenol plastic handle with integral shield, pressed steel cowl and hemi-spherical fuel tank, vitreous-enamelled primrose yellow. Chrome-plated, cast iron sole and burner. Rival to other technologies, flat iron, box/slug iron, gas iron and electric iron, offering cordless operation. Patent number applied for 1939, production may be post-1945.