Brown goods: an established term for consumer electronics
With the emergence of mass consumption in the 1950s, a small-scale revolution took place. Instead of mechanical, manual processes, masses of technical helpers such as refrigerators, dishwashers or washing machines appeared on the market.
Four terms were used for categorization:
Brown goods
All consumer electronics, such as televisions, computers or hi-fi systems, are referred to as brown goods. This is due to the often brown wood ornaments, which characterized products of that time.
White goods
Classic kitchen appliances, such as gas or electric stoves, refrigerators or dishwashers, were in principle white and were designated accordingly.
Red goods
Heaters or radiators, due to their radiating heat, were called red goods.
Gray goods
Everything that can be assigned to information technology in the broadest sense is referred to as gray goods. These include telephones and other products.
So what is brown goods? In short, all that is visually distinct from the categories presented above.
