Saturday, February 18, 2017

Thomas Edison lights up the Electric Company

5 x 7", acrylic on gessoed hardboard
painting #243, 2017

Thomas Edison (1847–1931) was born in Milan Ohio from a Canadian born father and an American mother. He received very little formal education and was home schooled as a child. He acquired knowledge through self-study and reading. Often considered America's greatest inventor, he held 1,093 US patents to his name. He developed and innovated a wide range of products from the phonograph, the motion picture camera and was influential in developing the first economically viable way to distribute light, heat, and power from a central station.

Early experiments of the electric light bulb dates back as far as 1802 when Humphry Davy invented the first electric light. While it produced light for a brief period, it was much too bright for practical use.

Thomas Edison is credited for inventing the first commercial light bulb. In 1878, he formed the Edison Electric Light Company (later General Electric), the world's first industrial research lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey. There, he began serious research into developing a practical incandescent lamp. In 1880, he discovered a carbonized bamboo filament that could last over 1200 hours. Soon afterwards, he started manufacturing and marketing this new product that would impact the world for the betterment of humanity.

The "Electric Company" on the Monopoly Game Board refers to the Atlantic City Electric Co. that was incorporated in 1924.

The commonality they both share, the incandescent electric light bulb was invented 100 miles from the "Electric Company", both located in New Jersey.

About 5 years ago, a hot new decorated trend appeared with reproduction of nostalgic vintage looking globes featuring long separated or criss-cross filaments, a nod to it's inventor, Thomas Alva Edison.

Ober Anderson Gallery
101A West Argonne Drive, 
Kirkwood, Missouri
(St Louis, MO)