Collecting objects such
as antique light bulbs can encompass a broad range
of bulb types. Because of the seemingly endless varieties
of bulbs to collect, many collectors focus on certain
types of bulbs or those manufactured before a certain
date. One "flavor" that I enjoy collecting
are early neon/argon glow lamps, both figural and
non figural types. Collecting figural glow lamps
has become increasingly popular in recent years so
it seems fitting to dedicate some space here to them
as well as other glow lamps that I find interesting.
The following pages represent many of the glow lamps
in my collection as well as some history I have been
able to learn while collecting and researching them.
Daniel McFarlan Moore developed a method of lighting
in 1898 utilizing a complicated system of vacuum
pumps, regulators, glass tubing, and dangerous
high voltage electronics. Moore's gas discharge light
system saw limited succes
s in industrial and office
environments but paved the way for the success
of future discharge lamps that would become popular
decades later, and still today. In 1920 Moore,
working under General Electric, is credited with
the invention of the neon glow lamp that we are all
familiar with today. Glow lamps were successful for
many reasons including their long life span and ruggedness.
They were also economical to operate. Glow lamps
found many uses and were used for pilot lamps in
machinery and appliances, night lights in the home,
and voltage regulators in electronic circuits just
to name a few. Specialized glow lamps such as the
crater lamp were developed soon after Moore's initial
invention to accommodate new technologies of the
day including facsimile and television.
In 1932 Philip J. Kayatt filed a patent for the
first novelty neon glow lamp depicting a figure of
a sailer. Neon lamps weren't anything new to Kayatt
at this time. He had prior experience working for
Radio Inventions, Inc. headed by the leadership of
facsimile pioneer John VL Hogan. Kayatt had four
patents for television glow lamps that were held
by Radio Inventions, Inc. in the early 1930s. Kayatt
also worked with Lee DeForest on a scanning disk
television which utilized a neon lamp in the receiver.
Having this experience in the newly emerging field
of glow lamps probably led to Kayatt's desire to
take the humble glow lamp to another level.
It didn't take long to realize that the two electrodes
in a common neon glow lamp could be bent or shaped
into just about anything imaginable. It was also
known that by introducing different gases into the
bulb, different colors could 
be achieved when the
electrodes were energized. Kayatt was an entrepreneur
who built businesses around his inventions to market
and sell his products. He also sold the rights to
use his patents to other glow lamp manufacturers.
Kayatt's first glow lamp company was the Solex Lights
Corporation which was in operation from 1932 to 1935
and manufactured figural neon lamps. The International
Glow Lamp Corp. (IGLC) and Canadian subsidiary IGLCanada
was another early company tied to Kayatt. Birdseye
Electric was formed in 1935 by the frozen food pioneer
Clarence Birdseye. Birdseye produced figural neon
glow lights after purchasing their machinery, tooling,
dies, etc. from Solex which was out of business at
this time. Birdseye manufactured glow lights under
exclusive rights from Philip Kayatt.
It appears that Aerolux came into existence during
the late 1930s under the leadership of Philip Kayatt,
probably after the time that Birdseye discontinued
their glow lamp production. Many artistic design
p
atents were filed by Harry Zaun for glow lamp
designs used by Aerolux. It is unclear what other
relationship Harry Zaun had with the company beyond
the artwork for certain lamp designs. Aerolux was
quite successful and stayed in business for several
decades. Aerolux produced hundreds of different glow
lights and today their bulbs are probably the most
recognized figural glow light. Aerolux bulbs make
fun collectibles because of the large number of different
bulbs that can be found: colorful flower bulbs, animals,
insignias, religious symbols, comic characters, advertising,
and more.
The aforementioned companies were all based around
the patents of Philip Kayatt. It is also important
to understand that other American companies were
producing figural glow lights at this time. General
Electric's early Vapor Lamp division pro
duced a
small number of figural glow lights as well as a
line of "alphabet" bulbs.
These light bulbs contained single letters or numbers
inside which glowed neon orange when energized
and were available in both base-up and base-down
versions. The alphabet bulbs could be arranged in
a socket array to form words or addresses well suited
for advertising purposes. It is rumored that GE's
production of figural glow lights lasted only for
a few years during the 1930s with production ending
due to competition with Kayatt's companies. Amglo
was another early company that formed in 1935. Amglo
produced large neon indicator tubes and several very
intricate and large glow lamps for the advertising
market, probably on a prototype or "need-for" only basis
since they are scarce today. Several early figural
glow lights have emerged from Europe however their
history is not documented here simply due to lack
of definite information. Bases of early European
bulbs have been seen with the marks: Philips (Holland)
and OSA (Germany). Figural glow lights started to
be imported into this country from Asia during the
late 1960s. Bulbs stamped "Japan" on
the base are of comparable quality to vintage American
bulbs. Bulbs of more recent manufacture imported
from China and Taiwan are of poor quality for the
most part.
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