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Learning
Tools And Research Material
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User Forums
Post pictures of your items and ask questions or just
learn from reading the posts from others
Catalog
Database
View pictures or track old items through antique and vintage catalogs
Ad
Database
View or upload ads from antique magazines
Picture
Database
View or upload pictures from antique magazines
Antique
Catalogs
Buy sell or trade copies or original trade catalogs and magazines.
Bulb
& Socket Bases
View images of the most well known bulb and socket bases
Patent Utilities
Patent
Linker
Lets You Pull Up Any Patent PDF File Or Link One Directly
To Your Web Page
Group Patent Dbase
Lets
You Download The First Page Patent Picture Of Every Patent On A Single
Day To View On Quickly Your Local Computer
MultiView Search
Lets
You Search For Patents Using Advanced Methods And Provides Hyper Links
To The Patent Office And Google Patents |
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I
have not had much time to get many items in the forsale area below.
Please keep checking back as I will start adding more items soon.
Items
For Sale
Cord
Balls & Adjusters
NEW - My cord
pendant adjuster project, as well as a good history about them.
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Socket
& Electrical Manufacturer's Items And Their History
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GECO
Sockets
NEW
- This section will allow you to date
and learn how to tell one GECO socket from the other.
Hubbell
This is where this site started from. Since this page
was done, there has been much more Hubbell history and information
found which will make for a complete redesign of this page and section
in the soon future.
Hubbell Patents
This section has some early patent research on Hubbell.
It is mostly complete with only a few missing patents which will be
added in when this section is re done into the new format
Wheeler Reflector
Co.
NEW - A history of The
Wheeler Reflector Company and tips on how to tell if mirror has been
replaced on a shade
Other Manufacturers
This section is a lot of incomplete
work and will be updated shortly. For now it serves to give you some
extended information on some companies, but will be a much better
tool when it is complete
NEC
This section is everything you ever wanted to know about the National
Electrical Code (NEC) but had no one to ask. Downloads of old NEC's,
meetings and much extended information is provided.
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Tutorial
And Early Lighting History
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The Lighting Time Table
To
read the entire tutorial, you can just click on the first link and
then continue to the next section at the bottom of each page. Or,
you can select links below of interest to you.
PRE 1900 SECTION
Overcoming Obstacles
About Early Electric Lighting, Generators, Arc Lamps,
The First Edison Socket, Menlo Park, etc.
The
First Fixtures
About The Start Of The First Incandescent Lighting
Fixtures
Light
Reflection
About Early Light Bulbs And Candle Power vs. WATTS
Edison-Bergmann
About Sigmund Bergmann And The Start Of Bergmann
And Company Lighting Fixtures
Lighting
Break Down
A Quick Break Down Of Different Lighting Time Periods
Styles
1881 to 1884
Bergmann Fixtures And Styles
Other
Pre-1888 Styles
About Early Companies That Sold Lighting Systems
And The Fixtures That They Sold With Their Lighting Systems
The
U.S. Elect. Co.
The United States Electric Company History And Early
Items
The
Brush Elect. Co.
The Brush Electric Company History And Early Items
Thomson-Houston
The Thomson-Houston Electric Company History And
Early Items
Westinghouse
About The Westinghouse Manufacturing Company History
And Early Mergers
Mid
1880's Styles
About The Start Of Electrical Supply Houses and
how new lighting styles came about
Pre
1900 Sockets
About Early Light Sockets And How To Tell The Difference
1887
New Items
1888
New Items
1890
New Items
1891
New Items
1892
New Items
1893
New Items
1894-1896
Items
1897
New Items
1898
New Items
1899
New Items
Above are catalog items sold in different years. There is no space
to duplicate items, so only new and unique items from each year
are shown. You would need to view the catalogs for yourself to be
complete as I am only highlighting items. You can view catalogs
here.
EXTRA INFO
Victor
Shade Holder
About The Victor Shade Holder, Atwood And The Standard
Holder
I.P.
Frink 1899 Items
About
Frink & Wheeler
New
Wheeler Inverted
Three Links About Mirror Reflector Manufacturers
And Their Items And History.
Wheeler Reflector
Co.
NEW - A history of The
Wheeler Reflector Company and tips on how to tell if mirror has
been replaced on a shade
Early Desk Lamps
Some Help In Telling Them Apart
Vitrite And Luminoid
About The Vitrite Holders And Early Vitrite History
Brush-Swan Holder
About Brush-Swan Shade Holders
Cord
Balls
My cord pendant adjuster project, as well as a good
history about them.
POST 1900 SECTION
About
1900 Styles
This section covers a basic into into the 1900 section
covering information about the 1899 transition, electrical code
changes, lighting influence, sharing and licensing of patents and
then into the new section of electrical specialty manufacturers,
Electrical Specialty Manufacturers
Harvey
Hubbell
This section covers some early history periods of
pre Hubbell-Grier, Hubbell-Grier, Harvey Hubbell, Hubbell Company.
It also covers a number of items that helped change lighting styles,
Benjamin
This section covers some early history periods for
the Benjamin Electric MFG. Co, as well as a small section on Dale
and The Federal Electric Company
Dale
Federal
Electric
This post 1900 section continues to be under current
construction
Please Check Back.
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CATALOG, AD'S AND PHOTO DATABASES
Dated Electrical Catalogs,
Bulletins,
Distributor Catalogs, Magazines, Ads & Other Printed Material
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IMPORTANT - You are about to
enter the catalog database.
Please read the information below before entering.
| CATALOG
RESEARCH AREAS |
The "Catalogs" area is read only - You
can not upload into this database like you can
in other database areas.
If you sign-up as a member, and login, you can however:
1. Mark images for download (like a shopping basket).
At the end of your session (or any time during)
you can choose to download all of the images that
you selected.
When you do this, they will be compressed into one
single archive which you can download all at once.
2. You can add notes to catalog images. |
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| MAGAZINE
AD'S & OLD PHOTOS AREAS |
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As a member you can upload into this area
as well as archive for download and make notes.
WHEN UPLOADING - YOU
MUST USE THE FORMAT & RULES BELOW :
When you select the upload option, you will see
in the Upload Image Window:
Image
File (just upload your photo OR give the url
to it below the browse button)
Thumbnail File (NOT NEEDED - LEAVE BLANK
- We auto make the thumb
Only use this option if you want to use a different
thumbnail then the picture you are uploading).
Image Name (YOU MUST USE THE FORMAT BELOW)
Date of ad (if known)
Manufacturer Name
Item in the Ad or Ad Type
You can also give the source of the ad at the
end of the line, or put this information into
the Description.
Description (You can leave this area blank
if you fit everything into the Image Name area
above, or feel free to type your fingers away
with lots of extended information).
Keywords (adding key words such as item,
item type, makers name, etc., is good but not
required)
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| PHOTO
AREAS |
The Photo Area is used the same as the area above.
Please only upload out of copyright OLD black and white
photos taken form out of copyright sources.
Seeing electrical items in old photos as they were being
used can be a real eye opener!
Upload, Upload, Upload your fingers away. |
| SEARCHING
THE DATABASE |
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The Catalog Database section is still under construction.
(now working on sockets, then on to shades, insulators,
fans, etc.) When I first started, I was doing
one catalog at a time, now I am doing one section
at a time for catalogs already in digital format.
I am starting on sockets and will move on to the
next item from there. So far I have about 50 catalogs
scanned into digital from 18?? to 1920 and am
busy adding socket images. After I am done with
the database, I will be scanning in another 50
or so catalogs to add to the database.
When
each topic is done, you will be able to track
items using key words or company part numbers
to see when the item first came out, and then
the last catalog it was found in. This would give
a good idea of a date range on a vintage item.
You
can use wild card searches using the *
Example
:
bryant-* would bring up anything with a bryant
part number
*bryant* would bring up anything with the word
bryant
First
set your images to display a high number such
as 50 at the bottom right of the page.
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| DOWNLOADING
COMPLETE CATALOGS OR GETTING CD's MAILED TO YOU |
The
images found in our catalog database are only small
pictures taken from pages of catalogs.
Complete catalogs are scanned, however only some
items from the catalogs are added to the database.
Missing would be off topic images, the descriptions
found in the catalogs, prices, finishes, pages of
text.
If you would like to purchase high quality PDF,
TIF, JPG scans of ENTIRE catalogs, this is an option.
These copies are sold with your choice of PDF download,
or a CD containing all formats.
We would love to provide EVERYTHING for FREE, however
please keep in mind that most of these catalogs
cost us BIG BUCKS! On the rare book market a catalog
can go for as much as 3,000.00 depending on what
it is.
After hundreds of catalog purchases there is quite
an investment.
Next is the time that it takes to scan (in some
cases over 700 pages - average 300 pages on most)
and then rotate and crop each image, assemble into
pdf format, etc. It can take days to complete just
one item.
For the reasons above, catalog prices will depend
on a combination of the rarity, price paid for and
size.
Many of these catalogs are rare one of a kind type
items.
If you are collector and wish to purchase the original
(or trade catalogs or copies of catalogs) please
contact me directly. Michael - 800-760-6898
You can view the private catalog list and download
demos and public domain research material here
You can enter the catalog image database (under
construction) here |
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Click
Here To Enter The
Catalog
Image Database Section (If You Have Read All Of The Above)
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COPYRIGHT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Contact
Us - Send Private Email To the Admin
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