How the AGA cooker became an Icon
The individuals who made it all happen
W. T. Wren
l Head of AGA Heat 
and Allied Ironfounders
l Innovator
l Visionary
l Second World 
War spy
David Ogilvy
l First AGA salesman 
and marketing
consultant
l Advertising genius
l The inspiration for 
TV’s Mad Men
l Second World War spy
Francis Ogilvy
l Head of ad agency 
Mather & Crowther
l Second World
War writer for
Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Mabel Collins
l 1935, head of AGA Heat Ltd’s 
new Cookery Advisory Department
Dorothy Braddell
l Redefined how Britain 
saw the kitchen
l Designed AGA kitchen 
roomsets in 1930s
and 40s
Edward Bawden
l Artist and illustrator
l Illustrated many 
iconic AGA 
brochures and 
recipe sheets
Carl Otto
l Industrial designer
l Designer of the Otto 
stove
l Head of the London 
office of Raymond 
Loewy Associates
Charles Ludovic Scott
l AGA Heat Ltd’s
Technical 
Research Officer
l Responsible for the 
technology behind 
the new Standard 
Model C AGA cooker
Lawrence Wright
l Pioneering perspective artist
l Illustrated AGA Heat’s roomset designs
Ambrose Heath
l Gastronome
l Food writer
l First celebrity cook
l Author of the early 
AGA cookbooks
Raymond Loewy
l US industrial design guru
l Head of Raymond Loewy 
Associates
l Oversaw re-design of
the AGA cooker through 
London offices
l Styled the Rayburn
Douglas Scott
l Industrial designer
l Re-designed the AGA 
cooker
l Introduced the
Standard Model C AGA 
cooker
l Designed the Rayburn
cooker was to become an icon. They showed the world the importance of
great design, perfectly cooked food, economy and ergonomics – all within
the kind of modern kitchen setting that had never been seen before. In
fact, from 1935 – in developing and launching the New Standard AGA
cooker – they shaped the future and changed the way people lived. It
was their influence that made the kitchen the most important room in the
house and made good food and cooking a new national interest… 
Sometimes, when a group
of people gell, there is an
alchemy that ensures
something extraordinary will
happen. This was the case
when the team below came
together to ensure the AGA
12 visionaries
How e AGA Became An Icon 9
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How e AGA Became An Icon
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