You probably hadn't seen one. When my parents retired and began wintering in Arizona, they couldn't help noticing that their neighbours were fascinated by this

You probably hadn't seen one. When my parents retired and began wintering in Arizona, they couldn't help noticing that their neighbours were fascinated by this strange something like a hot pot, but just for water thing they brought with them. It was just like a kettle, but you plugged it in! That was only twenty years ago. So at the very least, there were regions of the US in which the electric kettle was virtually unknown, while here in Canada one was at least as likely to have an electric kettle as, say, a pair of shoes.