Gallery›Digital Commonwealth — Boston Public Library›Many Instruments Have Aided Man in Securing Light. The Smithsonian Institution has recently arranged an exhibit showing the evolution of light from the days of the campfire to the present. Specimens in the collection show many weird forms of lamps and torches in vague at different periods. The torch at the left of the photograph is of birch bark, while next to it are a gourd and the skull of an animal. Later stones were fashioned into peculiar shapes to hold grease and oil. Oil was later burned in tin vessels followed by wicks inserted in glass receptacles. The latest development is that of the modern incandescent bulb and the modern gas fixture.
Many Instruments Have Aided Man in Securing Light. The Smithsonian Institution has recently arranged an exhibit showing the evolution of light from the days of the campfire to the present. Specimens in the collection show many weird forms of lamps and torches in vague at different periods. The torch at the left of the photograph is of birch bark, while next to it are a gourd and the skull of an animal. Later stones were fashioned into peculiar shapes to hold grease and oil. Oil was later burned in tin vessels followed by wicks inserted in glass receptacles. The latest development is that of the modern incandescent bulb and the modern gas fixture.
Digital Commonwealth — Boston Public Library

Many Instruments Have Aided Man in Securing Light. The Smithsonian Institution has recently arranged an exhibit showing the evolution of light from the days of the campfire to the present. Specimens in the collection show many weird forms of lamps and torches in vague at different periods. The torch at the left of the photograph is of birch bark, while next to it are a gourd and the skull of an animal. Later stones were fashioned into peculiar shapes to hold grease and oil. Oil was later burned in tin vessels followed by wicks inserted in glass receptacles. The latest development is that of the modern incandescent bulb and the modern gas fixture.

Harris & Ewing · [ca. January 1917]

CC0 — Public Domain
Digital Commonwealth — Boston Public Library

[Information from item housing] Lamps ... 1920s

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