We have oil lamps that we use when the power goes out, and the soot they produce darkens the glass in no time flat. Perhaps we aren't adjusting or trimming the lamp wicks properly - there must be a fine science to that, as the knowledge was not passed down in our genes. According to an old Sears & Roebuck catalog I saw, the best kerosene lamp back then only gave off 40 watts of light, and then - if the glass was blackened - good luck to ya!
Some years back, my folks went to an estate sale and bought a shoebox full of odds and ends which they gave to me. In it was some wire implements used for tatting, some wooden Belding spools (some had silk thread still wound on them!), and the neatest old light bulbs!!! The picture below is very similar to the one I own (it's packed away safely, so I scrounged and found this reasonable facsimile to show you).
It is an Edison Mazda light bulb, and the only way mine differs from the one in the photo is, that my bulb has 2 woven cords attached to the metal base. Each woven cord end with glass beads - one is white, the other is black. I wondered what the heck they were for....and so I screwed the bulb in, and it WORKS! The black bead signifies OFF, and the white bead is for ON! The bugger WORKS! And man - is it BRIGHT! It makes a sound that's a cross between a buzz and a hiss - what a step back in time as I watched this little miracle perform. An amazing invention that has changed Friday's chimney cleaning chores for homemakers FOREVER!
5 comments:
Hey Monica!
Wow! You have an old light bulb like that that still works! That's incredible. It seems like sometime in the past year I have seen on the news where they were talking about light bulbs. They were comparing them to these new ones that they want everyone to switch to. There was some man that was still using a light bulb in his house that was over 50 years old or something like that!
I did mess up and buy some of those news ones in a package last year before I seen this on the news but I did read about it on the package. They aren't safe! If one breaks you have to bring in Hazmat to clean them up! They contain Mercury! You can't dispose of them in the trash either! What a joke! They are ugly and they don't put out as much light as the regular bulbs do. I only have them in one room because of how hazardous they are. I wish I hadn't bought them because I don't know what to do with them.
You'll get a good laugh at this! I seen where in California they are going to quit selling the regular light bulbs and all they will be able to buy will be those new ones. So I've been buying the old ones and putting them away for future use. I've got a pretty good little stash built up. lol
Hugs,
Angela
That's amazing it still worked, and yet another modern convenience to not take for granted "LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!!!
I tell you whata Monica, you are amazing - you have a light bulb like that and it still works.
Have you heard that they are going to stop making the old kind of light bulbs - I don't like the new ones.
I'll ask Angela!
Have a great weekend.
Sandie
I was FORCED to try reading by candle light one time - - - it wasn't a pretty picture.
We had a huge storm and our electricity was knocked out for several days. Hubs was at work, it got dark about 9, and I lit some candles to attempt to read. I didn't have tall tapers, I had jar candles. I couldn't even read one word. I had to go to bed and lie there wide awake staring at the darkness. I was pitiful.
That old light bulb is kind of neat, and it is incredible that it still works! My Dad had some of those and I remember hearing that buzzing sound... almost like a bug or something.
We LIVE in CA and there are a ton of people that are really ticked off at this proposed law... especially since they are really so dangerous! How can they MAKE us buy and use something that is PROVEN DANGEROUS!?!?! Mike says that they have been proven NOT to last as long as they advertise they do either! GRRRRrrr Linda
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