General Electric tantalum filament "mill" lamp
date: label: date made
content: ca 1908
name: label: maker
content: General Electric Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: General Electric tantalum filament "mill" lamp, circa 1908. Brass medium-screw base with glass insulator. Drawn tantalum filament with 9 upper, 18 center, and 8 lower support hooks. Crimp connectors, Siemens seal, cotton insulator. Tipped straight-sided envelope. "902[1?]" on red oval label. TANTALUM (/) GE (/) 50 WATTS 220 VOLTS
label: Description (Brief)
content: The element tantalum was used as a lamp filament during the first decade of the twentieth century. Although somewhat more energy efficient than carbon filaments common at that time, tantalum filaments did not work well with alternating current. They were phased out in the early 1910s when manufacturers introduced lamps made with tungsten filaments. Mill-type lamps were specially made to be use in areas subject to vibrations that might damage the filament, such as industrial plants or mills. These type of lamps were later referred to as rough service lamps.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2014.0058.31
label: accession number
content: 2014.0058
label: catalog number
content: 2014.0058.31
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Light Bulb
label: Object Name
content: incandescent lamp
label: Other Terms
content: Light Bulb; Lighting Devices; Edison; Cage; Metal
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 1/2 in x 2 5/8 in; 13.97 cm x 6.6675 cm