BulbCollector Forums
BULB DISCUSSION BOARDS => Antique Bulb Discussion => Topic started by: bravery13 on April 24, 2008, 10:59:40 pm
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I have a question on how antique sockets work - specifically the Bryant sockets and their bulbs. Did sockets from the early 1900s require certain/ specific manufacturer's bulbs to be used within the manufacturer's sockets; for example, if you had a Bryant socket did you need to use a Bryant bulb? Kind of like Microsoft uses Microsoft software and Mac using Apple.
The reason I ask, in my home there's an installed Bryant socket in a small closet printed "Pat. November 26, 1907" and "250 W 250 V." My house was built in 1919, so I assume it's a later production (please tell me if I'm wrong in this assumption). In that socket is a working light bulb (definitely not a modern one) with no label on it whatsoever. So for my main question: is it possible I still have a working Bryant light bulb from the early 1900s?
Any help would be appreciated.
thanks,
Brian
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The short answer is no - socket manufacturers did not require lamps of a specific manufacturer to be utilized in their sockets. Additionally, I don?t think that Bryant ever made incandescent lamps.
In earlier times before the common Edison lamp base become standard, many incandescent lamp manufacturers did use proprietary bases on their lamps that would physically only fit sockets of corresponding design. Generally, such sockets were not limited to any one specific manufacturer. For example, Bryant produced sockets to accommodate lamps with Edison screw bases, Westinghouse pin bases, Thomson-Houston type bases, etc. until the demand faded for the older obsolete types.
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Any idea of how old a light bulb, regardless of the brand, could be in the socket as described?