BulbCollector Forums
BULB DISCUSSION BOARDS => Antique Bulb Discussion => Topic started by: bannon16 on February 09, 2002, 09:17:00 am
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Does anyone know if most pre 1900 hundred bulbs were hand made?
Thanks
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Hi Colin,
To the best of my knowledge, bulbs were blown by hand by a gaffer at the rate of 2 per minute until 1907. At that time, Corning started to develope a machine to blow the envelopes uniformally. So I would have to say "yes", that prior to 1900 all bulbs were made by hand. This is a bold statement because I'm no expert and the books I have often contradict each other. Good luck with your film and please keep us posted on its progress. Tim Luce
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On a related note, the British show The Secret Life Of Machines demonstrated homemade bulbs, made from milk bottles and leads from mechanical pencils. According to the host, they were still glowing after four days.