Author Topic: GE bulb of unknown vintage... (Read 12426 times)

Chris W. Millinship · « **on:** September 27, 2000, 08:07:00 pm »

Hi everyone,

I recently acquired this bulb as part of a large lot of assorted Christmas bulbs and wonder how old it may be...

I`ve never seen that version of the "GE" logo on a bulb before. Inside the bulb there are codes embossed on the stem press that I can make out through a small chip in the paint, with the help of a small flashlight, these are...

69
B0
80

I`m fairly sure this is correct. The "69" slightly overlaps the top of the "B0" but is probably insignificant. I have been told that these codes do not correspond to any used by GE, and that perhaps this bulb was made for GE by someone else, maybe the reason for the odd logo (thanks James!). Do any of you out there recognise this bulb, the GE logo or those codes, as I`d like to (at least) know when this bulb was made, and perhaps also who made it if it wasn`t GE.

Thanks in advance...

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-chris

electriclights.tripod.com

[This message has been edited by Chris Millinship (edited May 14, 2001).]

Tim · « **Reply #1 on:** September 27, 2000, 08:58:00 pm »

Hi Chris,

quote:
Originally posted by Chris Millinship:
I`ve never seen that version of the "GE" logo on a bulb before.

I'm also a little curious about this GE logo and forgot to bring it up during the last GE logo discussion. Anyway I've had similar looking bulbs but older (tungsten filament & tipped) with the same square lettered GE logo printed on a small circular paper label. I estimate the bulbs I had were from around 1915 or so, meaning this logo has been around a while. Someone out here must know something about it? Foreign made perhaps?

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-Tim
BulbCollector.com
DewCollector.com

Bob Masters · « **Reply #2 on:** September 28, 2000, 12:40:00 pm »

I don't know anything about it, but thanks Chris for posting it. I'm anxious to learn more about it as-well. Strange though. It does say U.S.A. on it...........

Scott · « **Reply #3 on:** October 15, 2000, 09:39:00 pm »

It looks almost like one of the round bulbs you see around a theatre marquis.Just a thought.

Dave · « **Reply #4 on:** October 21, 2000, 01:14:00 am »

I have exactly the same kind of bulb in my collection; only that it is blue instead of gold. I am too intrigued by the square GE monogram on this lamp. I assume that those date to the 1940s. Hard to tell if those were made by someone else...but for your info, lamp manfacturers sometimes exchange lamps when one's supply runs low or runs into manfacturing problems. Like for example, I have seen some GE high pressure sodium and metal halide lamps that were made by Sylvania...I could tell by the shape of the outer envelopes as well as the base moldings.

Bob Masters · « **Reply #5 on:** October 21, 2000, 10:47:00 am »

Manufacturers making competitors lamps ?
Hmmmm.........that is true. At Sylvania we used to manufacture "standard product" automotive healamps with lenses made by G.E. and also made lamps with the G.E. logo.

Chris W. Millinship · « **Reply #6 on:** November 07, 2000, 05:06:00 pm »

Just spied that very same square GE logo on one of my vintage C6 christmas light bulbs, I didn`t notice it until now. I just checked all the others I have and it`s the only one too...

It looks like I`ve written it on here but believe me it`s genuine, just a bit dark in here right now for a clearer picture (sorry), plus some red marks and a scratch on the bulb partially obscure it. I don`t know the age of this bulb (looks like quite an early ridged C6 though) but it may help further to pinpoint the origins of this logo perhaps?

Anyone have any ideas?

electriclights.tripod.com

[This message has been edited by Chris Millinship (edited May 11, 2001).]

ALM · « **Reply #7 on:** November 07, 2000, 10:28:00 pm »

At the risk of sounding like a "Master of the Obvious" - have you tried writing GE and sending along a picture?

I've tried it on rare occasion with some rare-appearing toys, having emailed the company of origin, and gotten some help in identifying some toys I have amassed.

It may take a while, but if you can find a contact at a GE "Lighting Division" or similar - they are probably best suited to getting you an answer. I'm sure that there is a customer service 800 number on their packages... certainly a start!

Good luck.

Chris W. Millinship · « **Reply #8 on:** November 08, 2000, 02:58:00 am »

Great idea! I`ve not thought of that before, so I may give it a try sometime soon. I`m sure there`s a "contact us" link on one of their web sites too that I can use.

thanks!

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-chris

electriclights.tripod.com

[This message has been edited by Chris Millinship (edited May 14, 2001).]

James · « **Reply #9 on:** May 11, 2001, 01:36:00 pm »

Going back to this old thread relating to the square-lettered GE logo on certain lamps, one of the main lines of thought was that they could have been made for GE by a competitor.

That seemed likely but today on Ebay I have just seen some old Edison Mazda advertising cards for sale, and curiously one of those also has this square-lettered logo - see http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1143584246

I can't really learn anything of the date from these without buying them which I don't intend to do, but its interesting to see that GE clearly used this logo themselves. So its perhaps not as simple as just some other firm being lazy in making up the correct monogram when marking lamps.

Tim - I presume when this auction finishes in a few days and the link dies, it will not longer be possible to view the image. Do you think it is feasible or worthwhile to embed the image in this thread somehow, for future reference?

James.

Chris W. Millinship · « **Reply #10 on:** May 11, 2001, 01:56:00 pm »

That seemed likely but today on Ebay I have just seen some old Edison Mazda advertising cards for sale, and curiously one of those also has this square-lettered logo.....

....Tim - I presume when this auction finishes in a few days and the link dies, it will not longer be possible to view the image. Do you think it is feasible or worthwhile to embed the image in this thread somehow, for future reference?

interesting, thanks for posting that James

. Anyone care to bid for them?

Don`t worry about losing the image in the future- I`ve saved it to my web server and it`s just over there now-->

image taken by shadydell@theriver.com from ebay, if this is you and you object to me posting your picture here please let me know and I`ll remove it. Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Chris Millinship (edited May 11, 2001).]

Chris W. Millinship · « **Reply #11 on:** May 28, 2001, 10:02:00 am »

Well I think we have a winner. Many thanks to Bill Scorah for providing me with the following ifnormation.....

The round bulb that is exterior coated with the large GE logo denoting 30 watts that you had a question on is a "D" lamp of about 1938.

The GE "D" lamps were made in 71/2 watt round, 15 watt A type inside frosted,the 30 watt in various colors and a 60 watt A type inside frosted as I recall from reading my 1938 GE lighting catalog. These bulbs because of their lower quality did not use the Mazda name. These D lamps were cheaper and were made to compete with the Japanese imported bulbs. Not sure when D lamps ended but would suspect 1940 or 1941 for obvious reasons.The Mazda name was dropped on all GE and Westinghouse general lighting bulbs in about 1944-45 due to restraint of trade court action. The new GE logo consisted of the GE trademark surrounded by the name wattage and volts. The present design came in about 1951.

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