Energy & Power

Resistance coil for Edison dynamo

Description (Brief)

Resistance Coil, Edison Electric Light System. A cylindrical wooden mount partially wrapped with platinum wire mounted on a rectangular wooden base, two brass wire connectors on base. Used with first dynamo set up in factory, January 1881. "This was in use but a very short time and was afterwards replaced by an adjustable resistance box."

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

1881

maker

Edison Electric Co.

ID Number

EM.180941

catalog number

180941

accession number

24315

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Edison light bulb with bevel-ring base

Date made

ca 1881

ID Number

EM.180934.03

catalog number

180934.03

accession number

24315

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Display of Edison experimental light bulb filament

Date made

1881

maker

Hammer, William J.

Edison, Thomas Alva

ID Number

EM.320526

catalog number

320526

accession number

241402

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Edison underground electrical junction box

Date made

1885

ID Number

EM.314917

catalog number

314917

accession number

212336

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Edison fuse block and fuse

Date made

1881

maker

Edison Electric Co.

ID Number

EM.180943

catalog number

180943

accession number

24315

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Rotary electric light switch

Date made

1882

date made

1887

associated person

Edison, Thomas Alva

maker

Bergmann & Co.

ID Number

EM.181754

catalog number

181754

accession number

33261

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Fixture for Edison light bulb

Date made

1881

ID Number

EM.180939

catalog number

180939

accession number

24315

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Mauzey’s Patent Model of a Solar Heater – 1880

Description

This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 227,028 issued to James P. Mauzey of Blackfoot, Montana Territory on April 27, 1880. His patent was for a new and improved solar heater. Mr. Mauzey’s design provided for a series of reflecting mirrors mounted on a rectangular frame which could be oriented so as to focus the sun’s rays upon an object to be heated. The image of the patent model shows the frame and mirrors. The frame would be oriented to point the central, oval shaped mirror directly at the sun. This mirror was shaped and oriented so as to focus the sun’s rays along a line at some distance behind the mirror frame assembly. Additional mirror elements were mounted within the frame as shown, and these too were designed to focus energy at the same distance behind the frame. The brown colored rod and material at the top of the frame modeled a curtain which could be rolled across the frame to block the mirrors as necessary for repair or adjustment. The frame assembly shown in the image was intended to be mounted on a supporting base which could be used to tilt the frame up or down to track the sun’s position in the sky. The base was in turn mounted on wheels or rollers to allow additional adjustments to track the sun. The object to be heated would be located on the base at the focal point of the mirrors. Additionally, the mirror assembly could be moved up or down relative to the base allowing for an accurate focus on the object to be heated. Diagrams showing the complete design of the heater can be found in the patent document online www.USPTO.gov/patents/process/search/index.jsp). Research of available trade literature and other sources has not revealed any commercial use that may have made use of Mr. Mauzey’s invention. His work was mentioned by Charles H. Pope, a solar heating advocate, in his 1903 book titled Solar Heat: Its Practical Applications. However, Mr. Pope indicated no additional information on Mauzey had been found.

The patent model is constructed of tin, wood and fabric. It models the mirror assembly and curtain mechanism. Also shown are the side arms that would have attached the assembly to the supporting base.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1880

patent date

1880-04-27

inventor

Mauzey, James P.

ID Number

MC.251506

accession number

48890

catalog number

251506

patent number

227,028

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Plane for making Edison bamboo filaments

Description

Inventing a new technical device not only involves creating the device itself, but often entails creating special tools to produce the device or the component pieces of the device. Thomas Edison conducted experiments on hundreds of different types of natural fibers in his search for a material that would serve as a light bulb filament.

Date made

1880

associated user

unknown

maker

Edison, Thomas Alva

S. R. Wells & Co.

ID Number

EM.314259

catalog number

314259

accession number

198085

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Goose Pond, East Hampton

Description

Mary Nimmo Moran chose The Goose Pond, Easthampton as her diploma work when the recently formed Royal Society of Painter-Etchers in London elected her a Fellow in 1881, the only woman among the sixty-five original Fellows. When she exhibited four etchings in the Society’s show, the New York Herald commented on a review in a London paper, ‘“Mrs. Moran’s work is so masculine [sic] that the Daily News critic takes it for that of a man.”’ Her vigorous etching style has been frequently noted along with her preference for working outdoors directly on a prepared plate, before the subject.

The print shows a pond, now known as Town Pond, and Gardiner’s Mill, which still stands in the town of East Hampton, where the Morans spent many summers. Landscape and in particular the landscape around East Hampton was the subject of many of Mary Nimmo Moran’s etchings.

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

1881

graphic artist

Moran, Mary Nimmo

ID Number

GA.14566

catalog number

14566

accession number

94830

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Rigged Model, Sidewheel Cotton Packet J.M. White

Description

The Mississippi River sidewheel steamboat J.M. White was built at Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1878 for the Greenville and New Orleans Packet Company. Measuring 321’ long and 91’ in beam across the paddlebox guards, the White only sat 10’-6” deep in the water when fully laden. The steamboat was designed for Mississippi River packet service between New Orleans, La., and Greenville, Miss.

The White was one of the largest, most expensive, luxurious, and most powerful river steamers ever built, with 2,800 horsepower and a capacity of 250 first-class passengers and 10,000 bales of cotton. Named after famous riverboat captain J. M. White (1823–1880), the “supreme triumph in cotton boat architecture” was a masterpiece of the gaudy, glamorous style known as “steamboat Gothic.” It had multiple bridal chambers; stained glass skylights and windows; rare wood veneers and gilded finishes; seven gilded “Egyptian-style” chandeliers; a sterling silver Tiffany water cooler in the 250’-long main cabin; monogrammed flatware and china; and a full concert grand piano.

The White spent most of its eight-year career in service on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Vicksburg, Miss. Despite its economy of size, the White’s high initial $220,000 cost, a spotty economy, and the rapidly expanding railroad network made the steamboat unprofitable. It caught fire, blew up, and burned to the waterline at a Louisiana landing in December 1886, killing several aboard.

Date made

1974

built

1878

used date

late 19th century

ID Number

TR.334847

catalog number

334847

accession number

315419

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Edison ammeter

Date made

c1882

ca 1882

associated person

Edison, Thomas Alva

maker

Bergmann & Co.

ID Number

EM.331146

accession number

294351

catalog number

331146

collector/donor number

20-03

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Switch for Edison dynamo

Date made

1881

maker

Edison Electric Co.

ID Number

EM.180944

catalog number

180944

accession number

24315

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Thomson DC Generator

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

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Edison underground power conductor

Date made

1885

maker

Edison, Thomas Alva

ID Number

EM.314919

catalog number

314919

accession number

212336

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Light switch for Edison installation

Date made

1881

ID Number

EM.180942

catalog number

180942

accession number

24315

Data Source

National Museum of American History