Two-Lite plastic bulb holders.

[Chris W. Millinship]

Hi everyone,

I recently got hold of these 2 interesting coloured bulb holders....

 

   

....and I`m interested to know about them. They are called "Two-Lite" and bear the markings "BW", "Use 7 1/2 watt bulb" and "Made in USA", but there`s no patent details or any other markings that I can use to try and date/ID them further, so I wonder if anyone else has come accross these things and has any info to share?
They are made of quite hard plastic that looks like the same stuff used to make christmas bubble-light bases (cellulose acetate?), and take a single 7 1/2 watt std.base 120 volt bulb (the one shown in the picture isn`t original but probably similar- I fitted that one just to show the idea). The porcelain base insulation reminds me of the early Benjamin socket clusters but they are much much later than that because the shells are made of plastic.
Well anyway I`d really like to know something more so if anyone can help me out then as usual, I`d be extremely grateful.

Thanks in advance,


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-chris
electriclights.tripod.com

By the way if the pics don`t show up then please let me know and I`ll switch them to my old image host. I`m just trying my new web host here- hopefully it`ll be OK.

[This message has been edited by Chris Millinship (edited February 10, 2001).]

[Bob Masters]

Chris !!!!!
Hey, I spotted some bulb covers, or holders, or whatever being used !
Where ? In the trailing light displays on the side of amuzement park rides.
There was a clear plastic outer shell with a colored front, or lid, and a smaller bulb contained inside.

Naturally though, since most carnivals are flea-bag roach infested rip-off joints on wheels, most of the bulbs were burned out and missing their front caps, but I just wanted you to know  

[Chris W. Millinship]

Bob- yes I`ve seen those here too in similar places, and amusement arcades, fairgorounds, that sort of thing. Actually they are probably complete light fixtures not just covers. Fairground lighting is a little bit of a mystery but I remember seeing some for sale a while ago. It used small 50-60 volt bulbs (presumably wired in series to the mains, but could have been from a transformer or generator) and sockets with snap together coloured covers.
I think it done this way cos it is cheaper to maintain- the little clear bulbs come dirt cheap when bought in bulk, unlike coloured bulbs which would be bought in smaller quantities of each colour and cost more to begin with. Low voltage bulbs ar eusually a little more robust too and hold up to vibrations during transport better than mains bulbs do.







btw sorry all my pics are broken right now   , I`m working on a solution but since I`ve posted so many pics both here and on other boards I`m a member of, it`ll take time to find and fix them all once my solution is in place. If anyone wants to saee any of my pics, email me and I`ll see if I still have them here.

[Bob Masters]

Hey Chris,

Could you please send me a few pics of those. I've forgotten what they looked like !

[Chris W. Millinship]

Sure, no probs....