Collection of antique light bulbs

[JerrySanDiego]

I aquired a collection of over 100 antique light bulbs in 1975 at an auction at Cornell University.  It includes many different types of bulbs dating from at least 1881.  Some of the bulbs are apparantly research bulbs and a few have names, dates, and the word "thesis" on them which I imagine were bulbs produced for master's and Ph.D research.  I have done research on these bulbs over the years, but I would appreciate any comments people would have on them.  I have posted photos on the ImageShack website (ImageShack.us) under username JerrySanDiego.  I would appreciate any comments you might have on these.

Thank you,

Jerry

[Chris Kocsis]

I couldn't find a way to see the images.  Do I need a password to see your album, or do I need to register on the site?

Chris

[JerrySanDiego]

I'm new to the ImageShack site and didn't realize a URL was required to access my photos.  The URL is:

 http://img411.imageshack.us/i/img007to.jpg/][/URL]

[Chris Kocsis]

There are definitely some interesting bulbs there, a couple of which may be on the scarce side.  However, the pictures are too small in size and resolution to see important details, such as whether the filaments are intact.  Many of the bulbs are heavily corroded and look like they were dug up.  These and the ones without bases might have little or no value.  To a collector they would probably be place-holders until a better example came along.  Let us know if you take better pictures.

Chris   

[Tim]

I'm a little more optimistic because I think I see several early and scarce bulbs here, though condition does look questionable on some, and of course filament condition cannot be assessed from these pictures, but.....  I see several Mather based bulbs, including one very early example.  I see some US based bulbs too, and some of those baseless bulbs almost appear to have looped terminals suggesting they never had a base to begin with.  I'm also seeing at least two Westinghouse Byllesby-Lange based lamps here, one with a corroded base (common with these bulbs), but the other looks nice.  Two other standouts look like Vitrite based lamps (the two with the black colored bases).  The giant Weston lamp with the big United States base is also impressive.  I think you have a few gems here and I wouldn't be surprised if you have already been contacted by several aggressive collectors