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Ever since I've been making this website, one site has stood
out as a great resource and fun place to visit, Kilokat's Antique Light Bulb Site. Please
join me for this quick overview of his Shelby Bulb collection.
Red Glass Shelby
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It is somewhat unusual to find them in colored glass such
as this example. The deep ruby glass is quite striking and was
probably used for darkroom photography or simply decorative purposes.
This lamp dates to around 1903. Similarly shaped "mushroom"
lamps like this one were also produced in emerald green, cobalt
blue, and amber colored glass. |
Tungsten Filament MAZDA Lamp
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This is a tungsten filament MAZDA lamp made by Shelby with
the familiar diamond shaped paper identifying label. This lamp
is colored but not made of true colored glass. Instead, the yellow
coloring is flashed onto the lamp. This process was much cheaper
when compared to manufacturing colored glass lamps, but the coating
on flashed lamps was not durable and was prone to flaking off
and scratching. This is a tungsten filament sign lamp and probably
dates to around 1912-1915 or so. |
Amber Glass Shelby
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Here is another Shelby lamp made of amber colored glass that
I have. Not only does the colored glass make it unusual, but
notice how there isn't the familiar exhaust tip on the top of
this lamp. I believe the lamp was made using a special manufacturing
process to eliminate the tip from the exterior of the bulb. I
haven't come across another Shelby like it and it's difficult
for me to precisely date it since I have no catalog material
from the company that specifically mentions tipless lamps like
this one. I am guessing it is from the same time frame- 1903'ish |
Shelby "Y Ray"
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This is the oldest Shelby that I own and is fitted with a
rare Schaefer base that uses wooden insulation to isolate the
two electrical contact points. The original paper label present
on the lamp identifies it as a "Y Ray Lamp" made by
the Shelby
Electric Company, Shelby, Ohio. It's not clear to me what "Y
Ray" means; perhaps someone from the Shelby museum would
have an answer. From my best educated guess, this lamp was produced
in the 1890s. |
Thanks Tim for sharing your your collection with us. If you
enjoyed this please give a visit to Tim's site at Kilokat's Antique Light Bulb Site |
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