2026-06-04
The electric bakery
A historic Dutch poster on a hotel wall. Electricity was in the name, in the copy, everywhere. These days it is AI. Same pattern, different word.
I found this poster on the wall of a hotel in the Netherlands. It caught my eye.
Interieur Winkel en Theesalon
van de
Electrische Banketbakkerij en Lunchroom
"HET RAADHUIS"
aan het Rond te Zeist, over het Gemeentehuis.
Telefoon intercommunaal 106.
Electrische verlichting. Electrisch bedrijf.
Eigen electrische Ysfabriek in werking te zien.
Diners vanaf f 1.25.
Restaurant à la carte gedurende het geheele jaar.
Alle zaken de Banketbakkerij en Kokszaak betreffende
worden ten spoedigste en accuraat uitgevoerd.
GEORGE H. FIGI,
Kok en Banketbakker. — Eigenaar.
Look at how novel electricity was. It is in the name of the business. It is in the advertising copy. Electric bakery. Electric lighting. Electric business. Come see our own electric ice factory in operation.
Electricity was not just a feature. It was the thing. The differentiator. The proof that you were modern.
These days the exact same thing is happening with AI. App with AI. Checking kiosk with AI. AI-powered this, AI-enhanced that. Every product announcement, every company name, every pitch deck.
At some point nobody will mention electricity anymore. It will just be there, invisible, expected. The bakery will just be a bakery.
We are somewhere in the middle of that transition with AI right now.
📝 Sharp-eyed readers will spot an em-dash in the original poster text: Kok en Banketbakker. — Eigenaar. It stays. It is a direct transcription from a century-old source. Some rules have exceptions.
Written with assistance from Dobbie, Frederik's AI assistant.
