Early Incandescent lamps

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Early Incandescent Lamps

Edison's Invention: A Practical Incandescent Lamp

Rarest Edison Lamp. This one was shown in Edison's 1879 New-Year's eve demonstration at Menlo Park.

Edison's earliest lamps feature the sunburst paper label.

Early Examples of Incandescent Lamps
1879 - 1888


Edison spear point lamp with "Petticoat" press. 1880	Edison lamp using kerosene can lid for base, red border label 1880	Early Edison Lamp with later Johnson bevel-ring base, blue border label 1880


Edison Lamp with Johnson bevel-ring base 1881	Edison Lamp with plaster ring base 1883	Edison Lamp with hairpin filament 1883


Edison lamp - Very rare 1885-6 This is the very first lamp using Edison's carbon paste clamps instead of the heavy copper plated clamps used earlier. Note the base is the very early short threaded form with the large brass contact button.	Edison hairpin carbon lamp 1888

Other Early Lamps

Perkins-Mather hairpin carbonized paper filament & Platinum clamps 1880's	Perkins-Mather multi-filament 1880's	Perkins-Mather spiral filament 1880's	Perkins-Mather hairpin filament 1890
The three Perkins-Mather lamps shown above left are very rare, these are the only known to exist. If you are aware of others, please contact me.


New-Type Edison Railway Series	Edison hairpin filament 1888	Packard 32cp Lamp, Thomson-Houston base

Swan, no base	Maxim, no base 1880	Maxim, very uncommon with unusual base 1880

Shelby tipless cranberry mushroom 1900 One of the first tipless lamps	Unknown milk glass lamp w/ Edison base	Brush-Swan milk glass with wood base 1885


Nernst - General Electric lamp with socket base
Nernst Lamp - Westinghouse
Westinghouse stopper with removable base 1892	Packard w/Thomson-Houston base and guest press ca. 1890	Edison with hairpin filament 1888

Tamadine Filament, US base 1885	Beacon stopper w/Westinghouse base 1892	Beacon w/ Thomson-Houston base 1898
Woodhouse & Rawson or Stanley w/ wood base early 1880's	Austrian deco white lamp 1900	Austrian deco aqua lamp 1900
Miller patent lamp 1900	Beacon w/ Thomson-Houston base early 1890's	Beacon w/ Thomson-Houston base, dark amber early 1890's
Maxim w/Swan base	Swan w/ Swan base	Vic's Vapo-Lite, cobalt blue
Sterling spiral 1900	Edison standard candlepower tungsten filament lamp 1912	Philips Neon 'Night Light' c. 1923
Heissler w/ unusual base 1890	Hesissler w/nickel base 1895	Hesissler w/hard rubber base 1900
Brush -Swan 1885	Brush-Swan	Hawkeye, w/ Hawkeye base (probably made by Packard)
Swan w/ hookeye base 1880's (Socket for screwing into gas fixtures)	Swan or Thomson w/ hookeye base 1880's (Socket for screwing into gas fixtures)	Sunbeam, no base late 1880's Rare, early example
Shelby Mushroom w/ Westinghouse base 1900	Shaefer w/ Shaefer base mid-early 1890's	Siemens & Halske w/ Siemens & Halske base
Westinghouse cranberry glass w/ Westinghouse base early 1890's	Early Westinghouse w/ Byllesby-Lange base 1889	Peerless w/ Brush-Swan base late 1890's
Sterling spiral w/ Thomson-Houston white porcelain base 1900	Colombia w/ Edison base mid-1890's

Rare Early Edison X-Ray tube
(from Edison Historic Site, West Orange, New Jersey)

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