Edison light bulb
type of lightbulb
Edison light bulbs, also known as filament light bulbs and retroactively referred to as antique light bulbs or vintage light bulbs, are either carbon- or early tungsten-filament incandescent light bulbs, or modern bulbs that reproduce their appearance. Most of the bulbs in circulation are reproductions of the wound filament bulbs made popular by Edison Electric Light Company at the turn of the 20th century. They are easily identified by the long and complicated windings of their internal filaments, and by the very warm-yellow glow of the light they produce (many of the bulbs emit light at a color temperature of 2200–2400 K).
History
Light bulbs with a carbon filament were first demonstrated by Thomas Edison in October 1879. These carbon filament bulbs, the first electric light bulbs, became available commercially that same year. In 1904 a tungsten filament was invented by Austro-Hungarians Alexander Just and Franjo Hanaman, and was more efficient and longer-lasting than the carbonized bamboo filament used previously. The introduction of a neutral gas to the glass envelope (or bulb) also helped to improve the lifespan and brightness of the bulb. To produce enough light, these lamps required the use of extremely long filaments, which remained so until the development of more efficiently wound tungsten filaments.
In the 1960s, US inventor Robert (Bob) Kyp patented a similar in appearance but flickering "electric flame" light bulb under the name Balafire as well as radiometers. His flicker bulb was used in a 7-Up commercial, and the company he ran since 1964, Kyp-Go, is currently the only US manufacturer of carbon-filament bulbs.
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