Vintage Lighting Collection

[joe_347V]

The Canada Science and Technology Museum posted parts of their lighting collection online.

See how many rare pieces you can see. 

[Mike]

  LOVE that Powerlite!

[joe_347V]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a NOS or almost NOS B2217. There's also some other goodies in their collection like a 400w /X Banner merc (maybe the only one left in Canada), a PG fluorescent streetlight and a medium pressure? 250w merc.   

[joe_347V]

Seems this site has a much more detailed catalogue of the collection.

Some of the lighting goodies I've found:
1st Gen Powergroove(with the long grooves on one side)
Same but the 6' version
Another view of the B2217
A Westinghouse OV-14B
LM Ovalite
Powerlite fluorescent streetlight
Newer PG lamp
PG lamp with uncoated electrodes
Half coated PG lamp

There was also some T17 lamps so I'd imagine they were somewhat common in Canada back in the 50s and the 60s which is when it seems like the majority of the collection dates from.

[Mike]

Oh wow! I assume these artifacts exist in some real location, so is there a physical museum open to the public where these lights can be seen in person, or do the exhibits exist solely online?

[joe_347V]

Yeah I believe they're owned by the museums in Ottawa but I'm not sure if they're viewable by the public or just a online exhibit. I wonder how they managed to obtain so many T17 and PG lamps and even a /X mercury while all of these are pretty much unobtainium in Canada for the pretty much the last 30 years.

[Mike]

Wow I wonder how they got their hands on so much rare stuff too. Even most collectors don't have those things, so it makes me wonder what lengths they had to go through to get those pieces. I wonder how long ago they got them too, since I'd imagine it would have been a little easier to obtain those items back in the era they were produced.

[joe_347V]

Same here, I did a bit off Googling and it seems the majority of the lighting collection was amassed in the mid to late 60s. When Ontario Hydro wanted to start electrical history museum in Toronto. During this time it seemed PGs were somewhat common in Canada for streetlighting but I'm not sure about the T17s. The PDF I linked also has a glimpse of the fluorescent display. Fortunately, even though the museum shut down in the late 70s, the collection was kept and transferred to another museum.

[Mike]

Interesting. There is a small museum is Pawtucket that is not public that Blackstone Valley Electric had started and had hoped to open to the public but when NGrid bought them out, they shut the project down. I took pictures of all sorts of cool stuff (though the room was dark so they came out kinda "meh"). No street lighting but lots of meters, insulators, etc.