at Duro-Test Inc., about 1972
© Duro-Test Corporation
Manufacturers have searched for ways to automate lamp-making since the days of Thomas Edison. The introduction of high-speed equipment in the 1920s dramatically boosted productivity. The Corning Ribbon glass-blowing machine, for example, could make 50,000 bulbs per hour. This also meant fewer people were needed to make lamps.
The introduction of computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technology in the 1970s may also have increased productivity and eliminated jobs. U.S. Commerce Department statistics show a general increase in productivity and capital expenditures, and a decrease in employees in the lamp industry from 1972 to 1992. One of the questions this Web site seeks to address is how automation or other economic factors influenced these changes.
© 2001 Smithsonian Institution
Last Updated: February 2000