General Electric "Survivor" incandescent lamp
date: label: date made
content: ca 1990
name: label: maker
content: General Electric Lighting Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: An extended life incandescent lamp. Brass medium screw base with glass insulator. Coiled tungsten filament with five supports. A-shaped envelope with internal frosting. Printed on top: "Survivor / 5 Filament Supports / [GE logo] / 60W / 130V". Printed in package: "60 Watts / 130 volts / Ave. Lumens 625 / Ave. life 3000 / *3000 hours, 625 lumens, / 60 watts vs. 3000 hours, / 650 lumens / 50 watts". Cross-reference: 2003.0030.08
label: Description (Brief)
content: For most of the 20th century, General Electric held a de facto monopoly of the US lighting market. They were often accused of manipulating the production of incandescent lamps so that lamps would burn-out and require replacement more quickly. While that practice did occasionally occur among lamp manufacturers, filament lamps exhibit an inverse relationship between output and lifespan—the brighter the bulb, the sooner it will fail—so GE tried to balance these factors. In the 1960s, Congress held hearings into the life ratings of bulbs, and in response GE and other manufacturers stepped up production of so-called extended life lamps like this unit. Marketed in an unappealing gray package, and emphasizing the relative energy inefficiency of such lamps, these lamps were designed more to placate Congress than be a major market success.
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: 2022.0278.17
label: accession number
content: 2022.0278
label: catalog number
content: 2022.0278.17
objectType: label: Object Name
content: incandescent lamp
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: lamp: 4 1/4 in x 2 1/4 in; 10.795 cm x 5.715 cm
label: Measurements
content: package: 4 in x 4 1/2 in x 2 1/2 in; 10.16 cm x 11.43 cm x 6.35 cm