Early Incandescent Lamps

The last version of this site was written on October 26, 2002. In this version two new topics are added. These are: "From Alessandro Volta to William Robert Grove" and "A Lamp of Uncertain Origin." These can be found under the general headings of "Miscellaneous Lamp Topics" and "Platinum Filament Lamp", respectively.

Some lamps submitted to the Franklin Institute in 1885 for comparative testing

Introduction

The history of the electric incandescent lamp can be considered to have begun with the invention of the voltaic pile by Alessandro Volta in 1800. Although the steps, sometimes very small steps, toward a practical lamp were many, it would be a rewarding job to treat the very early history in a manner in which the subject deserves. However, although the earlier history needs to be revealed in detail, this site concentrates mainly on lamp development between the years 1880-1925.

The various topics were written in random order, as the material surfaced from the writer's files. This version is simply an attempt to organize, under appropriate general headings, what had been written earlier. A few new topics have been added.

Manufacturers of Incandescent Lamps
Incandescent Lamp Manufacturers in Cleveland, 1884-1905
Location of the Swan Lamp Manufacturing Company
Lamp Manufacturer Affiliates
Sawyer-Man Locations in 1886 and 1894
The Shelby Electric Company
The General Electric Company's Porcelain Factory
GE Incandescent Lamp Manufacture in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Manufacturers of Incandescent Lamps in 1938

Carbon Filament Lamps
Lamp Descriptions-1885 Franklin Institute Test
The Largest Incandescent Lamp Ever Made—As of 1899
Later Samples of Carbon Filaments
Carbon Filament Configuration and Light Distribution

Tantalum Filament Lamps
Tantalum Filament Lamps

The Osmium Filament Lamp
The Osmium Filament Lamp

Tungsten Filament Lamps
MAZDA Lamps with Sintered Tungsten Filaments
"Just" Tungsten Lamp for Burning in Any Position
1910 GE MAZDA Lamp With Sintered Tungsten Filament
MAZDA Trivia
The Gas-Filled Incandescent Lamp
The "Grain of Wheat" Lamp

Platinum Filament Lamp
Grove's Lamp of 1840
A Lamp of Uncertain Origin

Some Lamp Types
Meridian Lamps
Electric Luminous Radiators
Hylo-Economical Turn-Down Lamps

Some Not-So-Well-Known Lamps
The Elblight
The Livgro Incandescent Lamp
Crawford-Voelker Titanium Carbide Lamp
The Lamp of C. A. Bäckström
Decorative Diffusing Lamp
The Lamp of von der Kammer

Lamp Parts
Leading-In Conductors
Mica Disc Heat Deflectors

Lamp Bases and Sockets
Edison's Early Lamp Base and Socket
Ediswan Lamp Terminals in 1893
Lamp Bases in Use Before Standardization
Incandescent Lamp Sockets in Use Before Standardization
The Manufacture of Lamp Bases
Hawkeye Base and Socket
Lamp Bases Used by Tungsram
Candelabra and Miniature Bases
Use of Porcelain in Lamp Bases
Porcelain Lamp Base
A Universal Pull Lamp Socket
General Electric Locking Socket

Lamp Patents
Edison Patent No 444,530 (and Reissue No 12,393)
Dates on Very Early British Patents
A Review of the Henry Goebel Defense of 1893

Lamp Collections and Exhibits
The William J. Hammer Historical Collection of Incandescent Electric Lamps
Comments on Some Hammer Lamps at the Ford Museum
Exhibits and Collections of Early Incandescent Lamps
Lamps Collected by Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Petzinger Filament Collection
Lamp Display at Philips After 1964

Stopper Lamps
Various Stopper Lamps
A Tubular Westinghouse Stopper Lamp
Low Voltage Westinghouse Stopper Lamps
Adapters for Westinghouse Stopper Lamps

Lamps Labels and Markings
Trademarks
Trademark Labels of Some Companies in 1914
Labels of the National Electric Lamp Association
GEM (General Electric Metallized) Lamp Labels
MAZDA Bulb Markings
Labels Used on Lamps Shipped to Brazil
The GE Monogram
Three-Voltage Rating of Lamps

Miscellaneous Lamp Topics
Dating Edison Lamps, 1880-1905
Images of Early Lamps
Edison Lamp Replicas
The Edison Effect
Web Sites of Interest
Lighting at the Columbian Exposition of 1893
Lamp Exhaust Times at Thomson-Houston
National Electric Light Association
Excerpt from Letter from Harry Needham
Comments from Edison Laboratory National Monument
An Inquiry for Lamp Historians
The First Windmill-Powered Incandescent Lamps in the World
Seeing Inside an Outside-Frosted Lamp
Bulb Darkening in Incandescent Lamps
Photographs of Eminent Electrical Men
Papers of John Robert Crouse, 1905-1932
Aylsworth's Niobium Filament Preparation
From Alessandro Volta to William Robert Grove

Biographical Sketches
Katherine Blodgett
Ludwig K. Böhm
F. M. F. Cazin
Philip Diehl
John White Howell
Francis Jehl—An Obituary
Achilles Matveevitch (de) Khotinsky
Rudolf Langhans
Lewis Howard Latimer
George R. Lean
Matthew Luckiesh
Albon Man
Hiram S. Maxim
Garrett Morgan, Traffic Light Inventor
Aladar Pacz, Developer of Nonsag Tungsten
Marvin Pipkin
John E. Randall
William Edward Sawyer
Henry Schroeder
M.M.M. Slattery
William Stanley, Jr.
John Wellington Starr
Royal F. Strickland
Alfred Swan
Franklin Silas Terry
John Waring
Edward Weston and the Tamidine Filament
W. Mattieu Williams
O.E. Woodhouse
The GE Fluorescent Lamp Pioneers

Books
Corrections to Howell and Schroeder's Book
Excerpts from John W. Howell's Stories for My Children
Electric Illumination, Vol II, edited by James Dredge
Forty Years of Edison Service, 1882-1922
Farmer on the Electric Light