Link to Home: Lighting A Revolution  
 

Edison & the 19th Century:
Graphics List

Step 1:
Preconditions		 Step 2:
Invention		 Step 3:
Promotion

Step 4:
Competition		 Step 5:
Consequences

Listed below are the graphics displayed in the 19th century section of the exhibition. Copyright belongs to the source unless otherwise noted.

Graphics permanently removed from the exhibition during the 2003 renovation are noted below in red font.

Section 1: Preconditions

Negative # Image Title Date Source Comments
46,790-O Morse Telegraph Sounder, 1850s 1908 * Drawing of a Morse Telegraph Sounder
78-17711 Edison Generator, 1870s 1885 * Drawing of a Edison Generator
46,890E Froment Motor, 1870s 1883 * Drawing of a Froment Motor
46,957A Foucault Arc-lamp, 1870s 1864 * Drawing of a Foucault Arc-lamp
47,037 Bell Magneto Telephone, 1880s 1908 * Drawing of a Bell Magneto Telephone
44,454A Westinghouse Transformer, 1880s about 1885 * Drawing of a Westinghouse Transformer
80-16511 Edison (age 59) in front of his lab bench in West Orange Laboratory 1906 * *
* Edison at age 14 1861 * p.42 L.A.R. Catalog
* Edward Weston (1850 -1936) * * Weston emigrated from England to Newark, New Jersey, in 1870. He established the Weston Electric Instrument Company there in 1888. Its meters gained a reputation for accuracy and reliability.
* Zenobe-Theophile Gramme (1826 -1901) * * Gramme, a Belgian, used Pacinotti's armature design to make efficient magneto generators in the 1860s and self-excited dynamos in the 1870s.
* Antonio Pacinotti (1841 -1912) * * Born in Pisa, Italy, Pacinotti became professor of physics at the University of Bologna at age 23. There he developed a ring armature design that was used by Gramme in motors and generators.
* George F. Barker (1835 -1910) * * A professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania from 1835 to 1900, Barker was Edison's closest friend in the academic community. His interest in electric lighting was an influence on Edison in 1878.
78-17840 Brush arc lamps at the Military Academy, West Point 1879 * *
45,394a Arc lighting in Dublin 1849 * *
46,957g Arc lighting in Paris 1878 * *
47,038n Arc lighting inside the Hippodrome in Paris 1880 * *
80-16568 Paul Jablochkoff (1847 -1894) 18 * Born in Russia, Jablochkoff spent his career in Paris. There he invented an "electric candle" arc light in 1877, which was sensational in demonstrations in theaters and opera houses.
* Charles F. Brush (1849 -1929) 18 * Trained in chemistry at the University of Michigan, Brush established himself in Cleveland. There he built his first dynamo in 1875 and an arc light in 1876. His company eventually became part of General Electric.
* Edwin J. Houston (1847 -1914) 18 * Houston was born in Alexandria, Va., but spent most of his life in Philadelphia teaching at Central High School. With Elihu Thomson, he designed an arc-light generator. He left the Thomson-Houston Company in 1882 to devote his time to teaching.

Top

Section 2: Invention

Negative # Image Title Date Source Comments
15,390 Matthew Brady photo of Edison (age 31) with phonograph 1876 * p.8 L.A.R. Catalog*

49,474g
80-16718

 Edison with his team inside the Menlo Park lab 1880 * *
80-18655 Edison as the Wizard, from the New York Graphic 1877 * *
* Photo of Edison's drawing of an air bubble in platinum wire January 19, 1879 Edison National Historic Site *
80-18680 Photo of the patent for Edison's platinum filament lamp * * *
47,961c Photo of an Edison assistant operating the new vacuum pump * * *
70,672 Menlo Park during the New Year's Eve Demonstration 31 December 1879 * *
* Front steps of Menlo Park laboratory with Edison holding straw hat 1880 Edison National Historic Site *
80-16529 Laboratory compound in winter of 1880 as sketched by R. F. Outcault. Center building is laboratory, front right is library, and at rear is machine shop 1880 Edison National Historic Site *
80-16540 Formal view of Edison and staff at laboratory 1880 Edison National Historic Site *
49474g Inside the laboratory 1880 Edison National Historic Site *
* Sarah Jordan's Boarding house at Menlo Park 1880 Edison National Historic Site *
87-1592 Laboratory building at Menlo Park about 1879 Edison National Historic Site *
80-16528 Photo of the electric railway at Menlo Park about 1879 * *
80-18648 Drawing of Edison's telegraphs: Duplex, Quadruplex, and Autograph about 1879 * *
* Edison's motor patent #228,617 8 June 1880 * *
87-1711 Edison and C. P. Steinmetz 1922 * Label id: A
* Mary Stilwell Edison (first wife) at about 28 1888 * Label id: AA
* Edison around 1900 around 1900 * Label id: B
* Edison at "Glenmont" home 1917 * Label id: BB
80-16532 Edison in West Orange Laboratory library, with model of concrete house he was producing in background 1911 * Label id: C
87-1670 Edison resting in West Orange Laboratory 1911 * Label id: D
* Samuel Edison Jr. (father) * * Label id: E
* Nancy Elliott Edison (mother) * * Label id: F
* Railway station where Edison learned telegraphy * * Label id: G
* Edison at time clock about 1921 * Label id: H
* Last photo taken of Edison 1931 * Label id: I
* Announcement of intention to be an inventor 1869 * Label id: J
* Naval Consulting Board, with Franklin Roosevelt at left end of first row, Edison third from left 1915 * Label id: K
87-1594 Mina Miller Edison (second wife), about time of wedding about 1886 * Label id: L
* Edison and Mina 1906 * Label id: M
80-16546 Edison and motion pictures 1912 * Label id: N
15,390 Matthew Brady photo of Edison with phonograph 1876 * Label id: O
* Edison with dictaphone 1893 * Label id: P
87-1671 Edison in West Orange Laboratory 1893 * Label id: Q
80-16538 Edison in West Orange Laboratory about 1886 * Label id: R
* Edison at about four about 1851 * Label id: S
* Edison at age ten 1857 * Label id: T
87-1629 Edison "Glenmont" home. * * Label id: U
87-1604 Edison with staff at West Orange 1893 * Label id: V
* Edison at about 34 1880-1881 * Label id: W
* Edison at 31 1878 * Label id: X
* Edward Hurley, John Burroughs, Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, R. J. H. Deloach at start of camping trip 1918 * Label id: Y
87-1605 Edison with improved phonograph 1888 * Label id: Z

Top

Section 3: Promotion

Negative # Image Title Date Source Comments
* Emil P. Spahn photo of Edison at age 33 1880 * p.3 LAR catalog
78-17751 Display of Edison equipment at Cincinnati Exposition 1885 * *
79-4883 Display of Edison equipment at Paris Centennial Exposition 1889 * *
87-1631 Display of Edison equipment at Paris Centennial Exposition 1889 * *
79-4884 Display of Edison equipment at Paris Centennial Exposition 1889 * *
* William J. Hammer with some of his collections about 1904 * *
80-16564 Francis Jehl (1860 -1941) * * Born in New York City, Jehl had little schooling. He became an assistant to Edison at Menlo Park and went to Europe in 1882 to promote the Edison System. On his return he helped reconstruct the Menlo Park laboratory at Dearborn, Michigan.
80-16690 Francis R. Upton (1852 -1921) * * As a graduate of Bowdoin, with graduate work at Princeton and in Germany, Upton was the best-educated of Edison's assistants. Nicknamed Culture by his colleagues, worked on the light bulb, the generator, and other projects.
80-16685 Charles W. Batchelor (1845 -1910) * * Batchelor was born in London and trained as a mechanic. He came to the U. S. at age 22 and soon joined Edison, becoming his closest associate. Batch went to Europe in 1881 to promote the Edison system, returning to head up the Edison Machine Works.
69,231 Distribution area of Pearl Street Station * * *
80-18686 Page from Edison lighting patent #239,147 * * *
80-16509 Front of Edison Manufacturing Co. * * *
78,928h "The Regulator," "Test Battery of 1000 Lamps," and "The Dynamo Room" 1882 * Lithograph showing Pearl Street Station components.
78,927e Lithograph: "The Switch" 1882 * Pearl Street component.
* "Junction box for coupling length of tubing" 1882 * *
78-17702 Cutaway view of underground junction box. 1882 * *
47,962g "New Enterprises in New York City" 1882 * Laying underground conduit for Pearl Street Station.
80-16522 Lithograph of Hinds - Ketcham & Co. Plant * * *
79-2132 Drawing: layout of Holborn Viaduct 1881 * *
79-6564 Edison Co. building near Holborn Viaduct * * *
79-6571 Holborn Viaduct street corner around 1882 * *
79-6567 Holborn Viaduct from below around 1882 * *
79-6570 Holborn Viaduct street corner around 1882 * *
80-16697 Lithograph of Bergmann Co. showroom 1882 Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog Bergmann, a longtime friend and business partner of Edison's, had an exclusive agreement to make fixtures for Edison lamps.
78-17756 Drawing: illuminated Victorian parlor * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-17741 Drawing: curved wall bracket * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-1 Drawing: moderately ornate chandelier * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-1 Drawing: room with ornate chandelier * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-1 Drawing: highly ornate chandelier * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-1 Drawing: illuminated dining room * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-17740 Drawing: 3-lamp pendant luminaire * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-17747 Drawing: 10-lamp globe luminaire * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-16734
80-16734 		Drawing: illuminated art gallery * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-17745 Drawing: electric flowers * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-17746 Drawing: angled wall bracket * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-16740 Drawing: combination wall brackets * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *
78-17742 Drawing: combination wall bracket * Sigmund Bergmann & Company catalog *

Top

Section 4: Competition

Negative # Image Title Date Source Comments
80-16526 Kreidler photo shows Edison (age 48) seated at Ogden Mine 1895 * *
48,285C Lithograph "The Dream of a Gas Manufacturer" 1883-84 La Nature, v.12, p.96 There are 26 people shown. Note Wilhelm and William Siemens (6, 7), Joseph Swan (8), Edison (12), Hiram Maxim (13), Paul Jablochkoff (18).
79-10114
79-10115
78-17694
79-10112
78-17727
80-18694
*
79-10118
79-10117
* 		Lighting company advertisements panel montage (10 ads) 1880s and 1890s * C&C Electric Motor Co.
Sawyer-Man Electric Co.
Western Electric Co.
German Electric Belt Agency
Thomson-Houston Electric Co.
Edison United Manufacturing Co.
General Electric
Weston Standard Volt & Ammeters
Edison Lamps, 16cp
Westinghouse Electric Co.
80-16549 Schematic of an electric light bulb about 1885 * *
* Joseph W. Swan (1828 -1914) * * Swan had a varied inventive career, with early contributions to photography. His carbon filament lamp anticipated Edison's by several months, but it had a low resistance and was unsuitable for commercial use. Swan's 1883 cellulose filament became an industry standard.
* Walther H. Nernst (1836 -1941) * * Nernst, a professor of physics at Göttingen and Berlin, received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1920 for work in thermodynamics. As a sidelight, in the 1890s he invented an efficient lamp in which the filament heated rare-earth salts, which then glowed. The lamp was very efficient, but too expensive to be practical.
* Lewis H. Latimer (1848 -1928) * * An African American, born in Chelsea, Mass., Latimer trained as a draftsman at a Boston patent law firm. There he made drawings for Alexander Graham Bell, among others. He joined the Maxim company in 1880 and invented a means of producing improved carbon filaments. In 1884 he moved to Edison's Lamp Works and had a distinguished career as a draftsman.
* Oliver B. Shallenberger (1860 -1898) * * A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, Shallenberger left the Navy in 1884 to join the Westinghouse company. In 1888 he invented an induction meter for measuring alternating current, a critical element in the Westinghouse AC system.
* Nikola Tesla (1856 -1943) * * Born of Serb parents in Croatia, Tesla was educated in Europe. He came to New York in 1884 and worked briefly for Edison. He patented a practical AC motor in 1888. Other AC patents were used in the Westinghouse generators at Niagara Falls. He is also known for high-frequency experiments and inventions in the field of radio.

Top

Section 5: Consequences

Negative # Image Title Date Source Comments
* Falk photo of Edison at age 57 1904 * free-standing cutout
80-17028 Niagara Falls: Pittsburgh Reduction Co. plant * * *
79-9341 Niagara Falls * * *
79-2144 Niagara Falls: Exterior of the powerhouse * * *
79-2147 Niagara Falls: Interior of the powerhouse * * *
79-2142 Niagara Falls: Line Crew * * *
79-2148 Niagara Falls: Transmission Lines * * *
79-9335
79-9337
79-9336
79-9346 		Niagara Falls industrial company photos (4) * * Aerial diagram of Niagara Falls
Diagram of Falls and plants
Industrial generator at plant
Interior of industrial plant at Niagara
99-4080 GE National Mazda advertisement, "She Doesn't Like Dim Light" 1920 * National Mazda full-page advertisement clipped from The Saturday Evening Post. [4 December 1920, p. 44]*
99-4121 Photo of lighting engineer Matthew Luckiesh's living room 1939 General Electric Lighting Co. photo from "A Decade of Watts in my Home, 1929-1939," reprint from the Magazine of Light, p.4*
99-4076 Lighting a Drawing Room 1927 * photo from "Modern Electrical Illumination," p.270*
99-4071 Another view of lighting engineer Matthew Luckiesh's living room 1939 General Electric Lighting Co. photo from "A Decade of Watts in my Home, 1929-1939," reprint from the Magazine of Light, p.4*
99-4078 "One Corner of a Dining-Room Converted into an Attractive Nursery" 1927 * photo from "Modern Electrical Illumination," p.274*
99-4130 Office with makeshift electrical installation about 1912 General Electric Lighting Co. photo showing office with cords running from converted gas chandeliers*
99-4072 "Layout of Outlets for a Typical Small House" 1922 General Electric Lighting Co. wiring diagram from "Edison Lamp Works Lighting Data Bulletin #137: Residence Lighting," p.31*
99-4077 "Lighting a Bed Room" 1927 * photo from "Modern Electrical Illumination," p.271*
99-4079 GE National Mazda advertisement, "Restful Light" 1925 General Electric Lighting Co. National Mazda advertisement from "The Four-Star Book," 1925, p. 3
80-16701 Lithograph of electrified kitchen * * *
78-17750 Advertisement of Hotpoint Electric Appliances * * *
99-4075 Miners Using Electric Coal Cutter 1906 * photo from "The Romance of Modern Electricity" p.270
* Sydney H. Short (1858 -1902) * * Short was born in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating from Ohio State University, he became professor of physics and chemistry at the University of Denver. He held over 500 patents, many in the field of streetcar railways.
* Charles J. Van Depoele (1846 -1892) * * A native of Belgium, Van Depoele came to the United States in 1869 and settled in Detroit. He invented an arc lamp in 1870, but is especially known for developing a form of electric railway using overhead wires.
* Frank J. Sprague (1857 -1934) * * A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, Sprague covered the Paris (1881) and London (1882) electrical exhibitions for the Navy. He worked briefly for Edison and later developed a constant-speed motor and an overhead trolley pickup device important for street railways.
* Leo Daft (1843 -1922) * * Born in Great Britain, Daft came to the United States in 1866. In 1879 he joined the New York Electric Light Company and transformed it into the Daft Electric Company, which became a major competitor in the street railway business.

Top

To 19th Century Objects List To 20th Century Graphics List

 
To 19th
Century Hall		 To 20th
Century Hall		 To
Guest Lounge