Alright, I know that this not a tube, so no need to point that out 🙂

In one of many tube shipments, I found an unexpected treasure – original Edison Light Bulb from the early 1900s.

The bulb still had its original sales receipt stating that the bulb was produced by Edison Mazda and that it cost (on the other side of the receipt)… $45!!! I’m not sure if it was in USD, since that’s crazy. It would make the bulb cost ~$1,177 in today’s dollars. Kind of a lot of a single light bulb, but who knows… Inside the bulb, it has a paper insert with patent numbers on it.

Since brand Mazda was registered by GE in 1909, so the bulb is likely from 1910 and 1920. It’s kind of interesting that Mazda first registered in the US, then was used in France, then moved to Japan.

The awesome news is that the tube fits into modern light bulb sockets and works perfectly fine. I had to be very careful with the bulb and used my Hickok 539C to gently increase voltage… @ 117v it was burning very bright, as expected!

This is a step away from my usual posts, but I wanted to share with you this great find.

If anybody has more info on this bulb, please do share.