Tim Tromps

Shelby

Collection

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

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

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

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"

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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