Energy & Power

Gasoline Pump

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.

Tungsten Filament Lamp

A coiled-tungsten filament 100 watt lamp with a blue glass pear-shaped envelope. Known as a “daylight blue” lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
A coiled-tungsten filament 100 watt lamp with a blue glass pear-shaped envelope. Known as a “daylight blue” lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1918
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
EM.307553
catalog number
307553
accession number
68492

Experimental Tungsten Halogen Lamp

Experimental LEAP (Linear Exhaust And Processing) tungsten halogen lamp for a production method that used a laser.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental LEAP (Linear Exhaust And Processing) tungsten halogen lamp for a production method that used a laser.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1972
maker
General Electric Lighting Company
ID Number
1996.0082.02
catalog number
1996.0082.02
accession number
1996.0082

Tungsten Filament Lamp

Second generation tungsten lamp with a pear-shaped envelope.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Second generation tungsten lamp with a pear-shaped envelope.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1914
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
EM.316017
catalog number
316017
accession number
223095

Promotional Incandescent Lamp

A lamp with Baltimore Gas & Electric anniversary wrapper. Mailed to customers as part of a load-building program.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
A lamp with Baltimore Gas & Electric anniversary wrapper. Mailed to customers as part of a load-building program.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1966
1966
maker
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
ID Number
1997.0387.19
accession number
1997.0387
catalog number
1997.0387.19

Siemens & Halske tantalum filament lamp

By the late 1890s, carbon filament lamps were no longer the hand-made devices demonstrated by Thomas Edison. He and many others had refined them into mass-produced, reliable products.
Description
By the late 1890s, carbon filament lamps were no longer the hand-made devices demonstrated by Thomas Edison. He and many others had refined them into mass-produced, reliable products. But the energy efficiency of carbon lamps remained poor, leading researchers—especially in Europe—to seek better filament materials. In 1902 Germans Werner von Bolton and Otto Feuerlien invented a filament made from element number 73, tantalum. Tantalum lamps produced 5 lumens per watt (lpw), much better than the 3.2 lpw of the carbon lamps of that day.
The electrical resistance of tantalum was lower than carbon, though. In order for the total resistance of a tantalum lamp to match the total resistance of a carbon lamp, it had to have a much longer filament. In order to support the longer filament inside a bulb of reasonable size, von Bolton and Feuerlien used a series of hooks attached to the lamp's central glass stem. The filament wound up and down within the bulb. Though the design looked complex, it worked well and was later adopted for the tungsten filaments that replaced tantalum around 1910.
This particular lamp was made by the inventors' employer, Siemens and Halske. Tantalum lamps became the first metal filament lamps offered for sale in the U.S. and in 1909 became the first lamps to carry the trade-name Mazda.
Lamp characteristics: Brass medium-screw base with skirt and porcelain-dome insulator. A tantalum filament with 11 upper and 10 lower support hooks. The support hooks are angled in order to keep tension on the filament, which tended to sag during operation. The stem assembly features soldered twist and crimp connectors, a Siemens-type press seal, and a cotton insulator. Tipped, straight-sided envelope.
Date made
ca 1907
date made
ca. 1907
maker
Siemens & Halske
ID Number
EM.239147
catalog number
239147
accession number
46578

Edison underground electrical junction box

Date made
1885
ID Number
EM.314917
catalog number
314917
accession number
212336

Low Pressure Sodium Lamp

Production low pressure sodium (LPS) lamp in original package. LPS lamps are the most energy-efficient lamps sold.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production low pressure sodium (LPS) lamp in original package. LPS lamps are the most energy-efficient lamps sold.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1996
maker
Philips Lighting Company
ID Number
1997.0389.05
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.05

Solar-powered Energy Kit

Companies began selling solar-powered toys for fun and education in the early 1960s. This kit features an inexpensive solar cell that can operate either in sunlight or under artificial light to perform a variety of tasks such as running a small fan.
Description (Brief)
Companies began selling solar-powered toys for fun and education in the early 1960s. This kit features an inexpensive solar cell that can operate either in sunlight or under artificial light to perform a variety of tasks such as running a small fan. Science educator Bill Nye licensed several solar-powered toys like this unit. A model helicopter and a model biplane are also in the Smithsonian collections.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
ID Number
2016.0178.01
accession number
2016.0178
catalog number
2016.0178.01

Rubidium Discharge Lamp

Laboratory discharge lamp designed to emit the spectrum of the element rubidium.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Laboratory discharge lamp designed to emit the spectrum of the element rubidium.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
maker
Osram
ID Number
2001.0033.05
accession number
2001.0033
catalog number
2001.0033.05

Nernst Incandescent Lamp

Invented by Walther Nernst, this incandescent lamp could operate in open air and did not violate Edison’s patents. The housing is sectioned for study of the internal ballast resistance mechanism. The glower consists of six iron rods coated with rare-earth elements.
Description (Brief)
Invented by Walther Nernst, this incandescent lamp could operate in open air and did not violate Edison’s patents. The housing is sectioned for study of the internal ballast resistance mechanism. The glower consists of six iron rods coated with rare-earth elements. The coating gives off light when heated and protects the rod from oxidation.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1902
associated person
Nernst, Walther
maker
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.
ID Number
EM.214330
catalog number
214330
accession number
38852

Battery: Voltaic Pile

In 1800, Alessandro Volta of Italy announced his invention of a device that produced a small but steady electrical current.
Description
In 1800, Alessandro Volta of Italy announced his invention of a device that produced a small but steady electrical current. His "voltaic pile" operated by placing pieces of cloth soaked in salt water between pairs of zinc and copper discs, as seen in this 1805 pile from Canisius College. Contact between the two metals creates a difference in potential (or pressure, or "voltage"), which in a closed circuit produces electric current. Voltaic piles mark the origin of modern batteries.
Before Volta's invention, electrical researchers like Benjamin Franklin worked with static charges. They learned much, but were limited by the fact that the electrical discharge was at very high potential and very low current; it also could be produced only in very short spurts. A source of flowing current allowed wider-ranging experiments that resulted in greater understanding of the links between electricity and other natural phenomena, including magnetism and light and heat. Batteries attracted the attention of many scientists and inventors, and by the 1840s were providing current for new electrical devices like Joseph Henry's electromagnets and Samuel Morse's telegraph.
Date made
1805
associated person
Volta, Alessandro
ID Number
EM.323886
catalog number
323886
accession number
252896

Weston Potential Indicator

In the 1880s—the early days of commercial electric power—convenient, rugged, and reliable instruments for measuring that power did not exist.
Description
In the 1880s—the early days of commercial electric power—convenient, rugged, and reliable instruments for measuring that power did not exist. Engineers had to struggle with complex, delicate, laboratory-type instruments that required leveling, calibration, and manipulation to yield a reading, which then required calculation to yield a meaningful number. Edward Weston, an immigrant English entrepreneur and electrical inventor and engineer, developed this instrument for measuring direct current potential, patented in 1886, to answer the demand for a better way. Although its leveling screws, delicate suspension, and glass shade (now missing) betray its laboratory antecedents, the hefty magnet, the moving coil design, and the "direct reading" pointer and scale show the direction in which Weston was heading. His subsequent instruments soon secured a worldwide reputation for reliability, precision, and ease of use.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
about 1888
maker
Weston, Edward
ID Number
EM.318562
accession number
232729
catalog number
318562

High Pressure Sodium Lamp

An experimental high pressure sodium lamp with a clear arc tube. Clear tubes are more efficient than opaque tubes.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
An experimental high pressure sodium lamp with a clear arc tube. Clear tubes are more efficient than opaque tubes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1980
Maker
General Electric
ID Number
1997.0388.09
accession number
1997.0388
catalog number
1997.0388.09

Experimental Arc-Tube

Experimental high-intensity discharge lamp. Radio-frequency energy excited gas in the electrodeless arc-tube.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental high-intensity discharge lamp. Radio-frequency energy excited gas in the electrodeless arc-tube.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1988
maker
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
ID Number
1992.0553.12.1
catalog number
1992.0553.12.1
accession number
1992.0553

Electronic Halarc Lamp

Miniature metal-halide lamp designed for indoor use. This was GE's competitive response to compact fluorescent lamps introduced by Philips and Westinghouse, and it failed in the market.
Description (Brief)
Miniature metal-halide lamp designed for indoor use. This was GE's competitive response to compact fluorescent lamps introduced by Philips and Westinghouse, and it failed in the market.
date made
ca 1981
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
1996.0084.01
accession number
1996.0084
catalog number
1996.0084.01

Carbon Filament Lamp

Edison lamp with carbon filament and frosted envelope. Unit was long-ago welded to a corner-iron for display.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Edison lamp with carbon filament and frosted envelope. Unit was long-ago welded to a corner-iron for display.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1883
Maker
Edison
maker
Edison Electric Light Company
ID Number
1997.0388.61
catalog number
1997.0388.61
accession number
1997.0388

Linear Incandescent Lamp

GE incandescent Lumiline lamp, green-coated, ca. 1936. Characteristics: Double-ended with steel disc-bases. C-8 tungsten filament, with glass-bead insulated support-hooks attached to a spine paralleling the filament. Tubular envelope with an enamel, green coating.
Description (Brief)
GE incandescent Lumiline lamp, green-coated, ca. 1936. Characteristics: Double-ended with steel disc-bases. C-8 tungsten filament, with glass-bead insulated support-hooks attached to a spine paralleling the filament. Tubular envelope with an enamel, green coating. Color lamps were displaced by the development of the fluorescent lamp, though clear and frosted are still available as of 1997.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1936
Maker
General Electric
ID Number
1997.0388.49
accession number
1997.0388
catalog number
1997.0388.49

Experimental Short Arc Lamp

Experimental lamp made to test the effects of mercury-iodide fill gas in an arc lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental lamp made to test the effects of mercury-iodide fill gas in an arc lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1962
maker
Fridrich, Elmer G.
ID Number
1996.0147.08
accession number
1996.0147
catalog number
1996.0147.08

Experimental Electronic Halarc Lamp

Experimental “Electronic Halarc” bulb without electronics module. Arc tube is mounted at a 45 degree angle.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental “Electronic Halarc” bulb without electronics module. Arc tube is mounted at a 45 degree angle.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1980
maker
Anderson, John M.
ID Number
1998.0050.05
accession number
1998.0050
catalog number
1998.0050.05

Mercury Vapor Lamp

Experimental mercury vapor lamp rated at 1000 watts. Typewritten label indicates a test run of "12,120 hours.”Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental mercury vapor lamp rated at 1000 watts. Typewritten label indicates a test run of "12,120 hours.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
maker
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
ID Number
1997.0389.44
accession number
1997.0389
catalog number
1997.0389.44

Christmas Light Set

A set of 19 incandescent decorative Christmas lamps with cords, about 1937. Lamps are wired into 3 separate strings which are plugged into a common terminal block. The strings are disposable, with strings being replaced as they burn-out.
Description (Brief)
A set of 19 incandescent decorative Christmas lamps with cords, about 1937. Lamps are wired into 3 separate strings which are plugged into a common terminal block. The strings are disposable, with strings being replaced as they burn-out. Characteristics: Lamps: Double-ended glass with a lead emerging from each end. C-8 tungsten filaments with soldered-crimp connectors. Tipless, oval-shape envelopes with seams running lengthwise (clamshell assembly). All but three are enamel coated: colors as follows: 2 white, 3 blue, 7 red, 3 green, 4 yellow. Three of the red lamps are spray-coated. Two of the strings have 6 lamps each; the broken string has 7. Cord-set: 6 black-insulated plastic (?) plug-sockets which insert into a plastic block. Jacket is a green woven-fabric. Each sting is a series circuit with a connector at each end. There is space for four strings in the block, but only three were found. The block-leads are wired to a two-prong plug with an black plastic housing. "Mazda [GE logo] Lamps" printed on each string's end-connectors. Paper found in the bag with the set reads: "1937 Disposable string set".
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1937
Maker
General Electric
ID Number
1997.0388.39
accession number
1997.0388
catalog number
1997.0388.39

Prototype Linear Fluorescent Lamp

Prototype fluorescent lamp with internal structure. The glass rod inside the lamp allows for higher current levels.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Prototype fluorescent lamp with internal structure. The glass rod inside the lamp allows for higher current levels.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965
maker
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
ID Number
2001.0084.12
accession number
2001.0084
catalog number
2001.0084.12

Tungsten Filament Lamp

A third generation tungsten filament lamp with pear-straight (PS) shaped envelope.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
A third generation tungsten filament lamp with pear-straight (PS) shaped envelope.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1915
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
EM.307589
catalog number
307589
accession number
68492

Experimental Tungsten Halogen Lamp

Experimental LEAP (Linear Exhaust And Processing) tungsten halogen lamp for a production method that used a laser.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Experimental LEAP (Linear Exhaust And Processing) tungsten halogen lamp for a production method that used a laser.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1972
maker
General Electric Lighting Company
ID Number
1996.0082.03
catalog number
1996.0082.03
accession number
1996.0082

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