“We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.” – Thomas Ediso
132 years ago today, on December 31, 1879, Thomas Edison illuminated his Menlo Park laboratory complex with the first public demonstration of an incandescent lighting system. Building on the works of other inventors, Edison created an inexpensive, long-lasting (40 hours!) lamp and a prototype distribution system.
On the same day, a new issue of Puck Magazine hit the streets. It contained a large lithograph by Joseph Keppler that celebrated the great promise of Edison’s endeavors.
May They Fulfill Their Promises – The New Year and the New Light!
by Joseph Keppler
Puck Magazine Centerspread
12 1/2" w x 18 1/2" h
Three small vignettes in the corners show natural light sources overshadowed by the promise of electric light. The upper left shows the "Total Eclipse of the Sun by the Earth" and the upper right is captioned "The Northern Lights pack valise and move on." In the lower right, "The Moon goes into mourning."
Baby New Year holds an electrified rattle and sits on top of a smiling light bulb that brings "A New Light to the World."
Below the bulb, Father Time flies away encumbered by gas lights , kerosene lamps, and candlesticks
Edison’s incandescent bulb dominated the domestic lighting market for over a century, but it always had an efficiency problem: 90% of the power consumed by incandescents is emitted as heat rather than as visible light.
In 2007, Australia passed legislation to phase out incandescent bulbs as an energy-saving measure. The European Union passed a similar mandate to remove incandescent bulbs from the market by 2012. In the U.S., the Bush Administration and Congress passed energy laws in 2007 that regulated new efficiency standards scheduled to take effect in 2012. It seemed as if Incandescent bulbs were doomed to be replaced by compact fluorescent light bulbs.
But wait! Spurred by the government mandates, some bulb manufacturers, such as General Electric, Osram Sylvania and Philips, are producing new incandescents that meet the new energy standards! One energy efficiency consultant said, "There have been more incandescent innovations in the last three years than in the last two decades.”
The future will be bright! Happy New Year!
— David Donihue, GreatCaricatures.comfont: superitch.com
