Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
bjbj This electric lamp is a really grand example of the transition from kerosene lamps
in the latter-part of the 19th century to electricity. The first electric light bulb
was blown for Edison in 1879; but in fact, because of course, of the need for a central
source of electricity and having it circulated, very few American homes had electricity until
after 1900. Cut glass lamps were the most expensive kinds of lamps that could be made,
but most of the ones that could be made before 1900 were kerosene. After 1900, you see the
transition to electricity. This is a particularly nice one because it is very large and it has
four arms. I ve never been sure whether it was made for something like a hotel lobby
or whether it was made for a very grand home, but it certainly wasn t made for the average
home given its size and the elaborate nature of the decoration. We aren t sure which factory
it was made in; it could have been in Philadelphia at the Quaker City Glass Company or at the
Meriden Glass Company in Connecticut. That pattern seems to have been made at both those
factories. The lamp does work, but of course because we re a museum, we never, ever, ever
light our lamps. As I said, there are several of these lamps known, which is one of the
reasons why I thought they might have been for use in a hotel, but I know of three more.
One of them was in the collection of the pianist Liberace until his affects were sold some
time ago. urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags State urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
City urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags place This electric lamp is a really grand
example of the transition from kerosene lamps in the latter-part of the 19th century to
e WrightDC Normal.dot WrightDC Microsoft Word 10.0 The Corning Museum of Glass This electric
lamp is a really grand example of the transition from kerosene lamps in the latter-part of
the 19th century to e Title Microsoft Word Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8