Light Bulb Tester

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Object Name: 
Light Bulb Tester
Accession Number: 
95.4.261
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 69.5 cm, W: 53.5 cm, Diam (max): 29.5 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
1924-1934
Web Description: 
Electric lighting was slow in coming to the American countryside. In the 1920s, lamps and bulbs were not the routine purchases they are today. Customers who wanted to test bulbs before purchasing them would use a bulb tester in their local hardware store. This nearly complete tester, with its period bulbs, is a rare find. It was made about 1925 by American Art Works Inc. in Coshocton, Ohio, for the Edison Mazda lamp division of the General Electric Company. The logo, which shows two knaves facing each other while they appear to be discussing or contemplating a light bulb, was designed by the American painter Maxfield Parrish. This logo first appeared - without the light bulb or the General Electric trademark - on the cover of the November 10, 1921, issue of Life magazine.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Holland, William R., Source
1995-08-08
Category: 
Color: 
Primary Description: 
Colorless glass; wood base. Light bulb tester holds 12 lightbulbs.
My Favorite Thing (2019) illustrated, p. 24; BIB# 716257
Connections & innovation: from Brooklyn to Corning: 150 Years of Glassmaking in Corning, New York, 1868-2018 (2018) illustrated, p. 8 (bottom right);
Escort Guide to the Galleries (2013) illustrated, p. 31; BIB# 134015
Escort Guide to the Galleries [V4/2013] (2013) illustrated, p. 31; BIB# 134856
International Scientific Glassblowers Exposition (2012) illustrated, p. 15; BIB# 130729
Light Bulb Tester (family) (2011)BIB# 134358
Jurors' Choice (New Glass Review 32) (2011) illustrated, p. 84, bottom; BIB# AI95693
Glass, Knocking at the Door of Art (2010) illustrated, p. 65; BIB# 115616
Recent Important Acquisitions, 38 (1996) illustrated, p. 249, #44; BIB# AI97737
The Corning Museum of Glass Annual Report 1995 (1996) illustrated, p. 12; BIB# AI95180