Ward Harris Edison collector

[Tim]

A few days ago I had the opportunity to tour the Edison / Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida.  The tour concluded with an onsite exhibit of Edison related items such as early Edison phonographs, dynamos, motors, and of course light bulbs.  One Edison bulb caught my eye that had a small brass identification tag strapped around the base.  The brass ID tag was stamped ?WARD HARRIS? with a number below it.  I found this interesting since I remembered having a bulb with a similar brass tag in my collection but I couldn?t remember if the name was the same.  When I arrived back home I checked the bulb that I have and was surprised to see it carries the same Ward Harris tag.  Searching the net for this name came up with an Edison exhibit at Fairfield University.  Some items in this exhibit are also credited to the Ward Harris collection.  The story I was given when I purchased my ?Ward Harris? bulb is that it was part of a traveling Edison museum on the west coast.  So my question is this:  Does anyone know who Ward Harris was?  I?m guessing that the collection that this person established was quite large, and complete judging from some of the items that I?ve now seen from the collection.  Here?s a picture of the Edison/Ford Winter Estates ?Ward Harris? bulb with brass tag.



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Tim
Kilokat's Antique Light Bulb Site
Mountain Dew Collectibles, Volume I

[Chip Crider]

Hello Tim:

Ward Harris was a famous Edison collector.  He was a Edison Mimeograph dealer in San Francisco from the late 20's.  He collected the full range of Edison items - phonograph, battery, lighting, power, toasters, cement bags, you name it.  His collection was huge - in the vicinity of 50,000 items.  Upon his death in the mid 50's his collection was dispersed with much of it going to various museums.  Over the years some of this material has been "liberated".  He also had several travelling Edison exhibits so the provenance on your bulb is accurate.

[This message has been edited by Chip Crider (edited January 24, 2003).]

[Hemingray]

was that the Edison-Ford winter home down in Fort Myers, FL?

[Tim]

Hi Chip, welcome to forums.  Thanks for sharing your knowledge of Ward Harris and his vast Edison collection.  This is probably a long shot, but would anyone know how or where to research Ward Harris item numbers that appeared on his brass tags?  He must have maintained an inventory list and it would be interesting to place a description with the item number.  I spoke with a couple of volunteers at the Edison/Ford Winter Estates but they weren?t of much help.  I wonder if another museum would have more information, or perhaps a master inventory list of Ward Harris items?

Hemingray, yes this was in Fort Myers, FL.


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Tim
Kilokat's Antique Light Bulb Site
Mountain Dew Collectibles, Volume I