Oh, I certainly plan on keeping this. As a teacher, I love having a small museum of older instruments to help demonstrate the evolution of
stage lighting.
Oh, and also... where I studied, we called them "
Base Up" lighting fixtures. You learn something new every day.
Evolution of
stage lighting also fascinates me, currently I specilize in
Fresnel types amongst others.
Seen and one day will trade for a Major 4.5" PC
fixture of two types. One PC, the other with
Fresnel lens. (Forget if they had reflectors or not but think the
Fresnel lens was a retrofit anyway). Have a medium screw
incandescent 400G30SP based 6"
Fresnel. Owner of the company has a
incandescent bi-pin Fresnel. I have a bunch of brands and styles of
incandescent medium
pre-focus more normal style Fresnels and a Kliegl 2.3/8"
RSC based
halogen fresnel. (Granted I think I tossed out its
reflector bracket when I upgraded it with a 65Q
reflector assembly, but I still have its origional
lampholder and
reflector so it's still mostly in tact and should be able to go back mostly to factory spec.) Think that covers just about every type of
Fresnel other than say a MR-16 type other than the origional origional version that would be curious to see. Request in PM what ever photos you would like and what details or info on them.
Few other types of
fixture I have, but for me the quest is currently on the
fixture link between the
globe type
incandescent PC
fixture and where the tubular lamp came to
play in what will have become perhaps made available the first Radio
Leko type. Lekos in the 30's I think I read that came with the
bi-pin lamp at the same time as the what is more known to be a
Fresnel.
That and also learning company history. I know the addresses of Universal, Major and Chicago
Stage Lighting, but don't know in black hole of history what happened to them in their demise or when between the 20's and 50's amongst other company liniages and innovations they had. Thought at one
point I was bidding on a Universal
Electric Stage Lighting Co. catalogue but it turned out to be just a 1/4
page add for them cut out of a catalogue of adds.
As with these Grand
Stage Lighting fixtures, short of knowing people that knew the players who are getting older now... it's really difficult to get history. I struck out on the Chicago
Stage Lighting
fixture in its history but got at least a third
base hit in by luck knowing two people that knew the owner and saw the product back than to confirm. Given the LE stamp on the knobs, I had a contact at L&E back in research jumping
thru loops for me in attempting to help amongst other vendor contacts.
Got a strong feeling my wife bought me two newer books for X-Mass, one was on the history of
stage lighting, hope it's great and anwers all. The other was another
stage lighting
book on history but I forget what it was about.
Side note, just finished re-wiring, cleaning, replacing parts,
etc. to two Kliegl #1341 3.5Q5 and 3.5Q6 fixtures. I think they were the origional concept in doing a
Altman 3.5Q series I love so much or even a
halogen than
axial Leko. These as with the above
Fresnel have the same
base as the 2.3/8"
RSC Fresnel fixture use 1960's technology in doing a quartz
halogen lamp as best they could in efficiency and that was double ended. The possible origion of the say first
halogen lamp for a
stage lighting
fixture unless it was just a side branch on the tree and extended Quartz lamps to directly replace radial
fixture incandescent lamps came first - doubtful in why will have someone gone long linear
filament RSC base if that's the case? Such Lekos might have been the first
halogen Leko, but given the available wattage verses
fixture size the 2.3/8" maximum of 400w/120v might have been the maximum size verses wattage. Bigger lensed fixtures might have been stuck in waiting for the upgraded
halogen lamps to upgrade the
incandescent fixtures. So these Lekos might also as a concept be also the first
Axial Lekos in concept in that they didnt' need a
base up lamp - they were any burn position or at least any rotation off the
yoke with limits for cross cant. Of interst to me is what was the first
axial Leko also in a
fixture designed for the newer technology lamp. Was it still medium
pre-focus or medium
Bi-pin if such was developed yet? As with the first incancescent
Leko, what was the first modern age
axial Leko that was designed for a
halogen lamp and if medum
pre-focus, what was the reason for going
bi-pin? (Not as distant history but also info not easily found.)
Also, these Kliegl 1341 fixtures might be the first
halogen Leko designed around the lamp - a
halogen lamp for a
fixture type since
Leko's got the tubular
incandescent lamp.
Halogen lamps for
incandescent radial fixtures were just an upgrade, the double ended
halogen lamp I think both the first new design for a
Leko based about the new lamp source and the first type of
halogen lamp
fixture, and
axial to boot. Makes it a very important
Leko to collect - as important as the first
Leko proper as unknown to me but might be or probably is a Pratt
fixture.
So anyway, got them up and running, lamped them down to 75w/120v but will have wished to go lower in wattage and hopefully will (lighting my living room). Not a perfect
flat field beam of light but decent enough I would have to say even given a linear
filament lamp
thru a round lenstrain.
Bit of a hot spot to fight and un-even beam of light but not one that cannot be worked with. A
bit less crisp in being able to
shutter and somewhat limited in not spinning the
lens but that's all about the lamp type and more modern spinning the
lens train
ETC concepts they were very important for amongst other things. Still though nice enough and acceptable fixtures, this even with the
RSC lamps, they do make a quality beam of light. The 3.5Q5 style
fixture once I found the proper spacer for the focus and adjusted a few other things is quite the great
fixture. The Lekos are certainly better than the I thought
Altman Q-Lights but in reality Mole
wash lights with
Altman yokes and knobs. Had to modify down in lamp type size from 5.5/8" to 4.11/16" and invent a
reflector for one but they work well in washing the ceiling at 150w, just not as well and wishing for more 3.5Q5 fixtures.
Most of my antiques hang in my garage and collect dust, (lots of saw dust but once cleaned are totally good to go in having re-wired.) Some of the smaller ones be it box spot I have a few of and in saving the unique ones of different brands of - think four different brands of them now, get modified with 50w/12v MR-16 upgrade to others. Other small fixtures, modern Inkies get used but lamped way down 35w for
safety. Beyond that, a few larger fixtures at work, crossed
cannon type radial 8" Century Lekolights stand guard as if cannons in the main approach to my work area, my DynaBeam is a hit in the front
lobby, other bigger fixtures from me or work so far are waiting in storage. Collection of old gear, love it. Once saw a semi-truck come into the dock and on the rear of it was some like 8' long
carbon arc follow spot fixtures one of our tech people humanely removed from a theater he was last in. (No idea of where he found storage for them.) This as opposed to in the long past in seeing some pickup truck full of scrap metal thus full of lighting instruments out the window at the theater that in the past I was too late in running down the stairs to catch up with in getting a green light to go away - given I was broke anyway. Scrap metal for antique lighting this even still useful to some or useful for history a shame.
With the internet, and hoping on an
ETC museum or more published school museum (work don't have room for a museum on my part), hopefully in the future we will get to such a thing. I know I will possibly contribute to such an
ETC museum as the most likely source. Should look into that no doubt...
