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Author Topic: Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures  (Read 12248 times)

Offline Ken Goldberg

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« on: August 29, 2000, 09:18:00 am »
'Think my inquiry of 8/22 perhaps sounded too complicated for anyone to tackle!  I'll try again.  All I really want to know is if anyone knows when flame bulbs were first commonly used for the typical lighting fixtures flanking a house's entrance. This is either the clear or opaque types, standard or amber.  Just going by Sears catalogs, I do know that by 1928 white, ivory, and amber opaque sculptured flame bulbs were shown, by 1937 clear sculptured flame bulbs were shown, and by 1951 such bulbs were shown and actually suggested for residential exterior fixtures - in wattage as high as 40.  I know sculptured flame bulbs were used in interior fixtures - particularly of the candle type - as early as the 1910s, and that books of the 1920s advocated colored bulbs, but I am asking now about use in exterior fixtures.
   If anyone has even seen a clear flame bulb of the sculptured type - I mean of the type commonly made by GE or Phillips, for example, from around 1926 (say, in a catalog) that would answer one of my questions - were they manufactured by 1926?  Needless to say, 1926 is very important to me as that is the year my home was constructed, I am a staunch preservationist in most respects, and I am a stickler for detail. Thank you!

Offline Ed Covington

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2000, 03:17:00 pm »
Ken, I really shouldn't be responding to your questions as my knowledge of the lamp types described is very limited. I am somewhat confused by your reference to interior and exterior lamps. As you know, a typical household bulb should not be used where raindrops can fall on it. However, such a lamp can be used outdoors provided it is protected by a globe of some sort. As you pointed out, lamp designs of the flame type were available at the turn of the century. The GE MAZDA Flametint lamp came out in the 1920s. The thought behind that colored lamp was to result in a light source that provided mood rather than adequate light for seeing. The Flametint incandescent lamp was designed to resemble the color of licking flames from a fireplace. The lamps were often used in wall fixtures in hallways. They were intended to be used primarily at night when a person normally relaxes. In the 50-watt version it was only about 70% as efficacious as the regular inside-frost lamp. In 1927 about 25-35% of all lamps sold were of that variety. In 1929 sales of that lamp type totaled about 13 million. That lamp was manufactured in 1926. I don't know when it first appeared as I've thrown much of my reference material out.

Offline Ken Goldberg

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2000, 04:26:00 pm »
Thanks, Ed, for being the first to respond.
I am inquiring about the bulbs that were used in the usual enclosed exterior fixtures of the 1920s lantern types, etc.  Therefore, I assume people used the same bulbs outside as inside.  Being an architectural historian and librarian, I know of many reference sources showing flame bulbs used for interior fixtures in the '20s but do not recall seeing any used in exterior fixtures at that time.  Nevertheless, at some time this became a common practice - particularly when the bulb would be seen (through a clear globe) and especially with candle-type or sconse-type fixtures.  And at some point amber bulbs became common for exteriors also, be these bulbs flame-shaped or standard.
  As you mention a specific bulb the "Flametint," were these only opaque in the '20s or also clear?  I went through many volumes in Cleveland's Nela Park library but do not recall seeing that exact term used (i.e. with the capital "F").  I assume the bulb you refer to was NOT necessarily flame shaped.  I have read portions of a number of books written by a Cleveland scientist at GE who promoted in the '20s tinted lamps.
  So I want to know if I can get away with saying that in 1926 people were already using white, clear, or amber sculptured flame bulbs in enclosed exterior lighting fixtures.  I assume people were using clear standard bulbs outside in 1926, as the interior-frosted bulbs were first becoming popular at that time.

Offline Ed Covington

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2000, 06:35:00 pm »
Ken, as I said, I shouldn't be responding to your questions because I have no answers. Re Flametint, see "Flametint Lamp Sales Step Ahead," Light 7, No. 10, Dec 1929, page 15; Carl W. Maedje, "Speaking of Flametint Lamps," Light, 5, No 4, Apr 1927, page 19. The Nela Park Library had copies of these issues of Light unless they were donated to the Hall of History.

Offline Tim

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2000, 05:44:00 pm »
Hi Ken,

quote:

Needless to say, 1926 is very important to me as that is the year my home was constructed, I am a staunch preservationist in most respects, and I am a stickler for detail.


I'm not sure if you are familiar with eBay but you may be interested in this since it's dated 1926 and might provide some nice insight concerning circa 1926 light bulbs:
 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=421750846



------------------
-Tim

Offline Ken Goldberg

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« Reply #5 on: September 05, 2000, 01:49:00 pm »
Thanks, Tim and Ed.
  I may have seen the Mazda book at Cleveland Public Library but thanks for the reference.  I'm sure I'd be safe if I used clear 40-watt bulbs regarding a correct "1926 look," because the clear bulbs must have still been very popular in 1926 (even though some writers really praised the new shaded lamps) and I see no reason they would not have been standard in exterior, enclosed fixtures.  The 40 watts should be a ppretty middle-of-the-road wattage, as well. But, of course, clear flame bulbs (or opaque ones, too) are more distinctive, so if I could get away with them, as being appropriate. . .
I'm getting those Lamp magazine articles from Cleveland Public Library's storage and look forward to seeing them.  I may have seen them already at Nela Park, as I had looked over all the issues of those years if they were available, but now I will specifically seek out those two articles.

Offline Ken Goldberg

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« Reply #6 on: September 05, 2000, 01:50:00 pm »
I meant I'm sure I'd be safe if I used clear, 40-watt, STANDARD SHAPED bulbs for the 1926 look. . .

Offline Ken Goldberg

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2000, 02:09:00 pm »
I did check out those two "Light" articles and many other pages of those 1926-9 volumes.
'Saw only one exterior residential fixture where a bulb could actually be seen, and the bulb shown was of the then-very-featured, inside-shaded type.  Every flame bulb shown was either in an exhibit or shown for an interior fixture.  For whatever reason, it doesn't seem that these bulbs - perhaps never or hardly ever over 25 watts - were used outdoors.  Of course, I'd like to see someone prove otherwise. . .  I do have a 1920s article showing "historic" street lights in Philadelphia that did employ flame or at least tinted bulbs, but these are public and not necessarily reflective of what people were doing with their entrances.
   In any case, as to the standard-shaped clear bulbs, I'd still like to know if they were commonly used in enclosed outdoor fixtures in the '20s.  If not, when did this become common?  You can go to any lighting store or department and typically see clear fixtures used in these fixtures - apparently to show off the fixtures or, perhaps, make them seem more like the gaslight fixtures of the past.  And, as I already wrote, Sears catalogs definitely promoted clear bulbs - in fact, flame bulbs - for exterior fixtures by 1951.  So, again, when did it become so common for folks to use the clear bulbs for exterior fixtures, while shaded bulbs remained more standard for interiors?
  Now, as to clear regular-shaped bulbs, I'd still like to know if they were commonly used in enclosed, fixtures I

Offline Ken Goldberg

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Flame bulbs in exterior light fixtures
« Reply #8 on: September 06, 2000, 02:13:00 pm »
Sorry - please delete last sentence of my last post.  Thanks.