Vintage Lighting Dear everybody: What are these things?

B

blahoobadyhoo

Member
Hello everybody.

I have walked past these things so many times and each time think "what the heck could they be?"
I go to Siena Heights University in Adrian, MI, and our theatre is at least 30 years old which explains why we have so many HUB ellipsoidals and fresnels. But these wall boxes are made by HUB too! These are found in our catwalks, but on only the 3rd out of 4 cats. I wondered if they were some ancient cat lights which would explain why there is a place for a fresnel bulb, but then why only on this cat. We have three of these equally spaced on a 40 or 50 ft catwalk. They are definitely meant to be plugged in...

1st and 2nd picture are of one box, and 3rd and 4th picture are of another, in various states of disrepair. 5th picture is of the stickers you see in 1st and 3rd pics.

'Tis a mystery!
DSC00921.jpgDSC00923.JPGDSC00925.jpgDSC00926.jpgDSC00928.JPG
 
I'm guessing ghost load as well. Designed to stay cool, but not allow too much light in, based on the fan inside. If we're right, the wiki entry for ghost load for more information. Kinda cool. It's even UL listed!
 

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Oh wow, so it's almost like the predecessor to gobos. Holy crap wait until I tell everybody this.

Thanks so much for your help guys, that was fast!
 
BGW said:
It's a Hub beam projection unit. ...
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Note: beam projectION, not beam projector. Essentially, a variation on the Linnebach projector. In the 1960s/'70s, Hub Electric Company, with the help of consultant/designer James Hull Miller, became prominent in the use of projected scenery on open stages of high school auditoria.

From In Memoriam :
James Hull Miller's ideas on small open stage theatre architecture and simple screen-like free standing scenery will last forever. His methods are low cost, ideal for schools, churches and other amateur performances, require modest skills and have high design appeal. He was a Don Quixote who saw his dreams realized on the international theatre scene.
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Although the fad was short-lived, it left behind many who continue to suffer upon these stages.
 
Although it is listed in the catalog as a "Beam Projection Unit" it is a form of a Linnenbach (pardon the spelling) projector. Discussed in the thread silhouette dancers .

It is an open face projector that has a single lamp with a concentrated filament, no reflector, no lens. Used for short throw wide angle projection. If the slide is parallel to the projection surface, there is no paralax or distortion. Basically a box with a lamp in it. Often shop built or created by removing the lens and reflector from a large Fresnel.
 
The giveaway is the lamp socket. For a ghost load, you would use as cheap a bulb as you could. (like an old PS52 with a mogul base. Prefocus socket = expensive bulb.

I remember back in high school (late 60's) I ran into the least UL approved (or Not Approved!) device I had ever seen! Someone had mounted a 2x4 up on the catwalk with a number of lamp sockets, all open wire, asbestos none the less, along with a wall switch nailed to aforementioned 2x4. I asked "What is it?" and was told it was a lamp tester!

Never know what you will run into on old catwalks!
 
blahoobadyhoo said:
Hello everybody.

I have walked past these things so many times and each time think "what the heck could they be?"
I go to Siena Heights University in Adrian, MI, and our theatre is at least 30 years old which explains why we have so many HUB ellipsoidals and fresnels. But these wall boxes are made by HUB too! These are found in our catwalks, but on only the 3rd out of 4 cats. I wondered if they were some ancient cat lights which would explain why there is a place for a fresnel bulb, but then why only on this cat. We have three of these equally spaced on a 40 or 50 ft catwalk. They are definitely meant to be plugged in...

1st and 2nd picture are of one box, and 3rd and 4th picture are of another, in various states of disrepair. 5th picture is of the stickers you see in 1st and 3rd pics.

'Tis a mystery!
View attachment 6076View attachment 6075View attachment 6077View attachment 6078View attachment 6079
Click to expand...

dont plug them in ! yep very old box light fixtures from Hub. :lol::lol:
 
blahoobadyhoo said:
.... place for a fresnel bulb, but then why only on this cat.
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Not to be pedantic, but there is no such thing as a "fresnel" bulb. Fresnel refers to a fixture or a lens. The lamp socket pictured appears to be for a Medium, or Mogul pre-focus lamp.

blahoobadyhoo said:
the predecessor to gobos. Holy !
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No, more like the fore-runner to modern projection. Linnebach Projectors could have mechanical drives in them which would run a loop of acetate in front of the instrument. These could be used for moving effects on a cyc or sky drop.

What I cannot understand is why they would be mounted FOH?!?! perhaps they were used to project a logo on the main rag? It simply makes no real sense having them FOH, Linnebach's were typically used backstage, and more often than not, used to rear project the image they were casting.
 
Van, if you look at that Hub catelogue, they have a "for instance" illustration showing how they recommend the unit be used FOH.

I've noticed rarely did things ever work as the old manufacturers suggested they do
 
AHA! See I assumed ! I heard Ctwlk and Assumed FOH. My bad. Sorry.
 
derekleffew said:
Although the fad was short-lived, it left behind many who continue to suffer upon these stages.
Click to expand...
blahoobadyhoo said:
Actually our theatre was built rather poorly, ...
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See how I knew that, without ever having even heard of the venue, based solely on three installed "fixtures"? One of the biggest failings is that one is forever forced to use projected scenery, as the venue becomes problematic for any other type.
 
The best part is, even if we wanted to use them and got them working, There is much more stuff built in the way that we couldn't get a clear shot to the cyc. I'm considering gutting them and removing the front face to make them shelves (as there is always stuff strewn across that cat). They're more of a nuisance than anything and a possible hazard for any incoming freshman too curious for their own good ;).
 
Save at least one for history!
 
derekleffew said:
I don't understand reddit, nor do I care to, judging from most of the conversations. But could someone post a link from this here thread to the one there? http://www.reddit.com/r/techtheatre/comments/2om8nf/help_identifying_some_type_of_light_fixture/
Thanks.
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Done. Reddit is an amazing community, yeah there is a shadier side to it, but the positives far outweigh the negatives. It provides a home for thousands of niche interests that are to small to support a separate site. It's a great place to learn about anything you could think of. I've learned so much over the years and found interests that I never knew I had.
 
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