General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

3

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Metal/glass

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

N/A

Width

N/A

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Lighting Technology

Category

Lamp bulbs

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

National Carbon

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

City

New York

Context

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Unknown

Canada

The bulbs are for a Model 'T' Ford, owned by the donor's father.

Function

Lamp Replacement kit holding 2 tubes. To provide replacement lamps for automobile headlights and probably interior or indicator lights . The headlamp provides light on the front of an automobile, both to make it visible to others and to allow those in the automobile to see in front of them in low visibility or bad weather.

Technical

The automobile replacement lamp kit is a good example of the type and quality of packaging in the 1920s. The National Carbon Company originally began as the Boulton Carbon Company in 1881 and was located in Cleveland, Ohio. The company manufactured carbon rods for arc lights, however in 1886, Washington H. Lawrence, an executive of the Brush Electric Company, reorganized Boulton Carbon and established the National Carbon Company. Between 1891 and 1906, National Carbon had acquired the carbon department from Brush Electric Co. and had purchased over 20 carbon and battery companies, which included the manufacturer of Eveready brand batteries. In 1899, National Carbon became incorporated and was considered an early leader in continuous industrial research. Union Carbide & Carbon Corp. merged with National Carbon in 1917 and acquired one of the most extensive industrial research laboratories in the United States (VanTassel and Grabowski, “National Carbon Co.”). The merger formed an industrial chemical powerhouse, which consisted of four companies: Union Carbide, National Carbon, Prest-O-Lite Company Inc., and Linde Air Products Company. In 1919, Union Carbon expanded its National Carbon and Prest-O-Lite facilities in Canada (Kepos: 516-520). National Carbon further developed the Eveready Battery line to include a variety of products, such as batteries for flashlights and radios, plastic products, and Prestone antifreeze (VanTassel and Grabowski, “National Carbon Co.”). National Carbon is credited with developing the first D-sized dry cell battery in 1898 (Eveready, “Battery History”). Under the Eveready brand, the first ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ sized batteries were released in 1907 and 1911. Eveready was also the first to develop the first 9-volt battery, as well as the first alkaline battery in 1956 and 1957 (Eveready, “About Us”). In 1980, the Energizer alkaline battery was marketed to consumers, eventually leading to the formation of Energizer Holdings Inc. in 2000 (Pederson: 171-174). Headlamps: Before the advent of the automobile, horse drawn carriages were the primary mode of transportation. Candles and oil lamps were attached to the carriages in order to signal their presence. The automobile first appeared in the late 1880s but at first they were not equipped with lights; as a result, night time driving was not possible. The first lighting devices used on automobiles were oil (kerosene) lanterns, which served as a signal to other drivers of carriages and vehicles, as well as pedestrians. However, the oil lanterns did not illuminate the road, which was often in poor condition. In 1906, acetylene gas powered headlamps were introduced in the United States and were increasingly used by motorists; this type of lamp was manufactured until 1912 (Moore: 1-2).

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Red and Blue logo: 'EVEREADY/ MAZDA/ AUTOMOBILE LAMP KIT'/ Below Logo is 'THIS KIT IS DESIGNED TO CONTAIN TWO AUTOMOBILE LAMPS OF ANY TYPE'

Missing

N/A

Finish

Silver painted tube with blue and red paint used in decorative detail/ container is in good condition

Decoration

N/A