Links & Resources
Antique Carbon Arc Lamps And Early Electric Lighting Device Facebook Group This Facebook group is an excellent resource for anyone interested in carbon arc lamps and other types of early…
American Electric / Thomson-Houston
In the late 1870's Professors Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston began experimenting with and patenting improvements on existing arc lamp and dynamo designs. In 1880 after being approached by a…
Brush Arc Lamps
Philadelphia 1878 "Miniature moons on carbon points, held captive in glass globes" A description of the "wonder of 1878": an installation of Brush arc lamps in the window of Wanamaker's…
Adams-Bagnall Arc Lamps
The Adams-Bagnall Company was formed in the mid 1890's by employees of the Brush/Swan incandescent plant who left Brush after the company was taken over by Thomson-Houston. If you look…
General Electric Arc Lamps
by Charles Brush The General Electric Company was formed in 1892. It was the result of a meger between the Edison General electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Company, which themselves…
Lifter
High Voltage "Lifter" Electrostatic lifters are fascinating devices that have become popular construction projects for experimenters all over the world. NASA's recent patent on a type of lifter…
Carbon Arc Lamps
By Charles Brush Yes, there were electric lights powered by central stations before Edison's! Carbon arc lamps saw extensive use throughout the USA and the world from the late 1870s…
Jacob’s Ladder
If you've ever seen a Frankenstein movie you have probably seen a Jabcobs Ladder or "climbing arc". The familiar "Bzzzzzzzzzzz....snap!" sound is a staple of old horror movies. So how…
Lightning & Atmospheric Electricity
Few natural phenomenon inspire the wonder and awe that thunder and lightning do. Since mankind's earliest days lightning has been regarded as something supernatural, and it is only relatively recently…
The Tesla Coil
Nikola Tesla invented the the Tesla Coil near the end of the 19th century. A Tesla Coil is a pulsed air-core resonant transformer capable of creating enormous voltages and huge…