Welsbach Mantle Co. Tip Tray
notes: label: Description
content: This lithographed tin tip tray advertises the Welsbach Mantle Company, a prominent gas lighting manufacturer during the twentieth century. The rim of the tray is painted gold and features six gas lamps. The center of the tray is a lighter yellow, with the middle hosting a shield titled “The Shield of Quality” on a red ribbon held by an eagle sitting atop the shield. The shield itself is red and black with text reading, “Manufactured by Welsbach Company, Licensed Manufacturers, Welsbach Quality.” Below the shield is a red scroll with two lit gas lamps on either side. In yellow text, the scroll reads, “All mantles are not WLESBACHS. See that the mantle you buy has the <i>Shield of Quality</i> on the box. Five Kinds – 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 ₵” This tip tray provides insight into the advertisements of this significant gas lighting company and their emphasis on the superior quality of their items.
label: Description
content: Austrian scientist Carl Auer von Welsbach, inventor of the Welsbach mantle, patented the mechanism in the United States in 1889 (patent number US399174). The Welsbach gas mantle was the first industrial product to utilize rare earth elements, specifically thorium and cerium. The light worked by heating fibers steeped in oxides of thorium and cerium with a gas flame. Welsbach mantles were widely used in gas-powered mechanisms and for street lighting, with Welsbach Company factories existing in Columbus, Ohio, and Gloucester County, New Jersey, for example.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ER.293320.2800
label: accession number
content: 293320
label: catalog number
content: 293320.2800
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Tip Tray
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1/4 in x 4 1/4 in; x .635 cm x 10.795 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall - from catalog card: 1/4 in x 4 1/4 in; x .635 cm x 10.795 cm