research
 Patents
 Books
 Literature
 Articles
 Timeline
 Auction Archive

about
 About this site
 Wanted to buy

bulb gallery

Incandescent:
C
carbon
WD
drawn tungsten
WC
coiled tungsten
WM
mini tungsten
WS
pressed tung.
FG
figural bulbs
XL
christmas
XS
christmas sets
T
tantalum

Discharge:
HE
helium lamps
NE neon lamps
AR
argon lamps
XE
xenon lamps
MA
mercury
MC
fluorescent
MS
special mercury

Hardware:
F
fuses
FX
fixtures
PF
plugs & fittings
SA
sockets
SW
switches

tube gallery

 X-ray
 Geissler
 Crookes
 Radio
 Box art

collector
profiles

Dr. Hugh Hicks
S.Slabyhoudek
M-Jay

Fort Myers, FL.
Monsieur Ara
Fin Stewart

links

 Related links
 Submit a link

 


web site news

06.06.2017

A new page with some information about The Schuyler Electric Light Company has been added.  If you have additional material to share, photos of Schuyler incandescent lamps or other items, please consider contacting me to add them to this page.  Full credit will be given for your contribution.



03.28.2017

BulbCollector.com turns 20 years old this year!  I've upgraded the server so it should be good for another 20 years :-)

This was a major undertaking migrating all the data to new hardware, upgrading the forum, the databases, the OS, etc.  There are bound to be bugs with this transition.  Please report them here if you're having any issues using this website.

Thanks for visiting the site!



05.01.2016





Three early bulbs acquired in 2013 sparked some research that evolved into this new page concerning the Schaefer Electric Manufacturing Company.



An early Sawyer-Man wall socket dating back to 1887 has been added to the gallery.  Now, to find that matching plug!



04.09.2016

New informational pages activated for the following early manufacturers:

Akester
Beacon
B?hm
Crookes
Gatehouse
Loomis
Lynn
Novak

As always, I will add more info to these pages as I come across things.  If you have information or pictures to add, please contact me.

past news..

 

Adam Allerhand electric lighting book now available from Bez Bujda Press


Bez Bujda Press was created for the purpose of publishing "Illustrated History of Electric Lighting" by Adam Allerhand. The book is self-published, printed at Colorwise Commercial Printing in Roswell, GA, available on Amazon or directly from the author. Heavily illustrated, full color, large format (8½ x 11), heavy satin paper, over 500 pages, weighs about 5½ lb.

Adam Allerhand, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, began working on his book in 2008. The book was released on September 21, 2016. Please click here for more information.

 

 

most recent discussions


[Antique Bulb Discussion] Prohibition Era Speakeasy Light Buld by pierone December 05, 2023, 12:52:25 pm
[Antique Bulb Discussion] Nernst Lamp for sale by Malgajeva November 09, 2023, 10:46:49 am
[Antique Bulb Discussion] Seeking E10 220v-240v Bulb for 1920 Art Deco Statue Restoration - "Croze" brand by neet August 16, 2023, 06:22:41 pm
[Antique Bulb Discussion] Antique Lectern Bulbs ID by pspana July 12, 2023, 03:19:23 pm
[Antique Bulb Discussion] ID this bulb? by drbruin June 25, 2023, 05:41:55 am
[Antique Bulb Discussion] Amglow Batrilite No. 75-C3R 4 pin socket neon by neondave May 09, 2023, 07:05:27 pm
[Antique Bulb Discussion] Ken Rad (Kentucky Radio) branded lamps + Datecodes by Ben M November 26, 2022, 10:17:43 am
[Modern Electric Lighting] SOX lamps, production ceased by Ben M November 08, 2022, 08:50:21 am

go to forums

 


pic of the month

february




GE carbon filament lamp, formally of
the Charles Proteus Steinmetz collection,
prominent GE electrical engineer.


early lamp manufacturers & personage
updated 4.9.2016

These informal pages contain history culled from various early electrical journals and early books describing incandescent lamp technology. No attempt will be made to rewrite history. These pages are simply placeholders used to store information specific to the manufacturers below as I discover it.

Please contact me if you have material to add and share.

Links will become active as content is added to each page:

Akester
Beacon
Bernstein
Böhm
Crookes
DeKhotinsky
Diehl Induction Lamp
Gatehouse
Gerard
Latimer Clark, Muirhead & Co.
Lane-Fox
Loomis
Lynn
Mac Fadden-Peil
Freeman
Mather-Perkins
Maxim
Müller
Nothomb
Novak
Schaefer Electric Mfg. Co.
Schuyler Electric Light Co.
Siemens-Halske
Stanley
Swan
Van Depoele
Weston
Woodhouse and Rawson
 
Early spring tension lamp sockets

 


video: Dr. Hugh Hicks collection, Baltimore
Mount Vernon Museum of Incandescent Lighting, 1999


vintage literature online!


L'Electricite Decorative a Lampes Minuscules

A boxed set of Christmas lights from L'Electricite Decorative a Lampes Minuscules, a vintage French lighting catalog from 1937. Check out the vintage literature section for more great old catalogs and advertisements.


mather electric book
12.10.2006


Mather Electric Company, Direct Current Incandescent Lighting: Published during the late 1800s, this hard cover book describes in detail the Mather incandescent electric lighting system. It is profusely illustrated and provides a rare and interesting glimpse into the early days of of electric lighting and power generation.