Energy & Power

The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.

A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.

The F. & W. M. Faber stationary steam engine was built in Pittsburgh during the 1850’s. Stationary steam engines such as this one could be used to power multiple machines in a shop or factory.The F. & W. M.
Description (Brief)
The F. & W. M. Faber stationary steam engine was built in Pittsburgh during the 1850’s. Stationary steam engines such as this one could be used to power multiple machines in a shop or factory.
Description
The F. & W. M. Faber stationary steam engine is a rare survivor of pre-1860 American steam power. With a horizontal cylinder and separate bases for the flywheel and engine, the Faber displays features from the dawn of steam usage inside American factories.
Although exceedingly rare today, this engine was offered as an "off-the-shelf" stock engine in 1850s Pittsburgh, where it was built. The engine features exceptional refinement in the degree of ornamentation on the flywheel and the flyball governor, evoking the novelty and wonder of early steam power.
The physical beauty of the Faber engine masks its relative energy inefficiency compared with engines of the period of more robust construction. In addition, records indicate this pretty engine performed the bulk of its actual service inside tanneries in Ohio and Kentucky, where the smells and wet hides and dank darkness would have belied the visions that inspired this engine's elegant design and fabrication.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
F. and W. M. Faber
ID Number
1980.0227.01
catalog number
1980.0227.01
accession number
1980.0227
Westinghouse made stopper lamps to avoid infringing Edison's patents. The lamp is based on Sawyer-Man patents and includes a removable adapter to allow use of the lamp in both the special sockets made for stopper lamps and standard Westinghouse sockets.
Description (Brief)
Westinghouse made stopper lamps to avoid infringing Edison's patents. The lamp is based on Sawyer-Man patents and includes a removable adapter to allow use of the lamp in both the special sockets made for stopper lamps and standard Westinghouse sockets.
date made
ca 1894
Maker
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.
ID Number
1997.0388.81
catalog number
1997.0388.81
accession number
1997.0388
This lamp was mass-produced for the centennial of Edison’s invention.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This lamp was mass-produced for the centennial of Edison’s invention.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1979
ID Number
1984.0314.03
accession number
1984.0314
catalog number
1984.0314.03
Pointed-toe iron with black D-grip handle and removable flexible hose for use with Colt carbide-feed acetylene gas generator; rests on conforming "COLT" trivet or stand with three peg legs and four prongs to hold iron in place.
Description
Pointed-toe iron with black D-grip handle and removable flexible hose for use with Colt carbide-feed acetylene gas generator; rests on conforming "COLT" trivet or stand with three peg legs and four prongs to hold iron in place. Ignition hole at tip of deflector and screw-valve to regulate heat at its heel. Asbestos lining between deflector and body, which is lined with brass mesh and has semicircular vents at sides and an angled pipe with stop-cock extending from center back. Spiral-pattern, woven cloth-covered hose with spiral springs at both ends. New, unused condition.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
maker
J. B. Colt & Company
ID Number
1977.0935.10
catalog number
1977.0935.10
accession number
1977.0935
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
1977.0935.01E
catalog number
1977.0935.01E
accession number
1977.0935
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
1977.0935.01F
catalog number
1977.0935.01F
accession number
1977.0935
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
1977.0935.01D
catalog number
1977.0935.01D
accession number
1977.0935
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ID Number
1977.0935.01G
catalog number
1977.0935.01G
accession number
1977.0935
Several types of renewable energy sources are available as alternatives to non-renewable, carbon-based fuels. This button advocates the use of solar energy to generate electricity.
Description (Brief)
Several types of renewable energy sources are available as alternatives to non-renewable, carbon-based fuels. This button advocates the use of solar energy to generate electricity. It was distributed in 1978 by Solar Action, the Washington, D.C.-based organization that helped to organize Sun Day (3 May 1978.) For many people, the 1970s energy crisis was a call to action to change how electricity was generated and used. Making the choice to “go solar”—and encouraging others to do the same—reflected growing optimism about the potential of clean, accessible solar energy.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1978
maker
Edward Horn Co.
ID Number
2003.0014.0400
accession number
2003.0014
catalog number
2003.0014.0400
This model of a direct-current generator was designed by Elihu Thomson to produce a constant voltage. It could also be used as a motor that would maintain a constant speed. It came to the Smithsonian from the U. S.
Description
This model of a direct-current generator was designed by Elihu Thomson to produce a constant voltage. It could also be used as a motor that would maintain a constant speed. It came to the Smithsonian from the U. S. Patent Office, representing patent number 333,573, issued to Thomson on January 5, 1886. The patent itself indicates that no model was submitted (which is not surprising since by that time models were not required), and this example was probably given to the Patent Office at a slightly later date for display purposes.
Thomson and Edwin Houston were school teachers in Philadelphia in the 1870s when they formed a partnership (the Thomson-Houston Company) to enter the new and competitive arc-lighting field. They produced a number of successful generators, motors, meters, and lighting devices. Most of their system employed alternating current, which was as good as direct current for lighting. With the development of the transformer in the mid-1880s, AC systems assumed added importance because electricity generated at a low voltage could now be converted to high voltage for more efficient transmission and then converted back to safer low voltage for use by consumers. But electro-chemical applications (like plating) required DC generators, and, until the invention of a practical AC motor by Nikola Tesla at the end of the 1880s, street railways depended on DC.
Thomson-Houston merged with Edison's company in 1892 to form General Electric.
See US Patent 333573, "Dynamo Electric Machine," issued 5 January 1886 to Elihu Thomson. Claim: "A design with spherical armature and round-type frame to obtain a dynamo-electric machine capable of furnishing a constant potential; or an electric motor capable of maintaining a constant speed." No extant maker's markings. This machine has a revolving circular armature with pulley wheel on one end of shaft and adjustable brushes at the other. Field magnets are supported inside the frame.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1886
patent date
1886-01-05
associated person
Thomson, Elihu
associated company
Thomson-Houston Electric Company
maker
Thomson, Elihu
ID Number
EM.252663
catalog number
252663
patent number
333573
accession number
49064

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