Lighting History

I may have some old carbon rods laying around the shop. I remember seeing some somewhere..... They built a drive in movie theater out by my house. And they have their spare projectors sitting downstairs roped off. They are made by strong. I want to say one of them is a carbon arc. I need to see if i have any pics. If not i'll be sure to get some when i go back. The place is family owned and you just tune your car stereo to the frequency they have posted for audio. Its pretty cool and a lot of fun.
 
...I DO NOT miss my carbon spotlights !...
Ya know, for an old guy, you don't seem to be very nostalgic. While of course I would prefer to USE every piece of lighting equipment delivered fresh from the factory, I suppose I'm more sentimental than you and enjoy reminiscing and discussing with today's youth the way things were done in the past.

Getting up from my rocking chair and putting away my MacBook, as it's time for my meds and my nap. Where's my walker? Wait, is that an episode of Matlock I've only seen nineteen times? (but every time is like the first time). Where's my walker? Why in heaven's name did CBS take off Murder, She Wrote? I loved that Angela Lansbury! Where's my walker? When is President Reagan going to do something about this terrible war?
 
Ya know, for an old guy, you don't seem to be very nostalgic. ]

I met my wife when she was a Super Trouper operator at a dinner theater and I was the new head electrician. She shortly after switched to props (no surprise), and ultimately became and is a Local 829 USA scenic artist. We are still together, 24 years married, having met in '78. I have on our kitchen wall, the plastic "Super Trouper" logo off one of the machines she ran, a souvenir after they tore down the theatre.

I also spent a few months on a tour of Chicago (the musical), decades ago, as a front light operator and got to learn some great operating tricks on a lot of different carbon and xenon machines (including a lime green carbon Hall and Connelly at Shea's Buffalo Theater) from a lot of different and terrific operators.

How's that for nostalgia ?.

That said, at my current gig, I used to have to train what became an endless progression of newbies on the carbon arcs. THAT was a PITA, especially as we don't pay prevailing scale and went/go thru a lot of operators.

I will never forget one operator, we called her "The Duchess of Dim", after she announced one night during a show "Wow, it got really dark in here all of a sudden".

She was referring to the spot booth, as she sat alongside a Super that projected it's light out of the booth thru a plexi window that reflected enough light into the booth to read a book and whose who's carbons at that moment, had drifted a bit too far apart and whose arc had drifted away, as the saying goes "Like a fart in the wind".

The xenons are a lot easier to train someone on and greatly simplify that aspect of my job, though I recall some none-too-fond moments of the 3 times I've changed xenon lamps, dressed in multiple layers of protective clothing that makes me feel like I'm dis-arming a nuclear warhead.

Steve B.
 
though I recall some none-too-fond moments of the 3 times I've changed xenon lamps, dressed in multiple layers of protective clothing that makes me feel like I'm dis-arming a nuclear warhead.

Yea, I remember all those warnings about the lamps! We converted four of the old Super Troupers to Xeon. I think it was a 1.6k kit, or maybe a 2k kit, too long ago. Only ever had 1 bulb blow in a show. After all the warnings it was somewhat anticlimactic. They had you believing the stinking door would blow off or something. Just kind of a nasty bang and then no light. The converted spots all had those metal reflectors, but it was still quite a job finding all those bits of glass (or technically, quartz.) I never liked the conversions as I suspected the airflow in the old carbon lamphouse was the problem. My wife too was an operator, although we were already dating at that point. Never thought to grab one of the logo plates, wish I had. Kind of simpler times back then. Training operators was a pain, but in some weird way, it raised the bar. Ended up with some pretty good ones. Funny thing, I often wondered if the constant attention required kept their mind on the job better.
 
Looky what I found, in Lighting Dimensions, November 1986, issue. I think the company ceased operations shortly thereafter. As soon as I learn how to scan without my roommate, you guy's/gal's who like looking at old crop, is in for a treat!

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Lighting Dimensions! That was a great magazine! I loved it and was really bummed when they folded. I never could bring myself around to throwing them out. They had a great parody in one about early theater, including the role of the (fictitious) "Steam Leko."

Now, that might have to be something I dig up and scan for this site!


EDIT:
Woooo! Are they back? I just did a google search and came up with this:
http://industryclick.com/magazine.asp?magazineid=136

I had gotten a letter back in the 80s moving me over to another magazine saying they were going out of publication, but that site looks like they are going strong!
 
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Can't remember all the iterations right off, but that which some of us know as Lighting Dimensions and Theatre Crafts have merged to become what today is Live Design magazine. LDI (Lighting Dimensions Institute--trade show and educational seminars) takes place in late Oct./early Nov., even years in Las Vegas and odd years in Orlando.
 
don't know if it's any help but the following is a few lamps of arigional incandescent antique type grade, than a few others that later replaced them.

First photo is for lamps. Based on the Fuchs' "Stage Lighting" p. 156-157 tables and descriptions of Mazda lamps for stage lighting use, the first photo shows a PS-35 only inside frost instead I think clear type #14, the second 0 also somewhat more modern - 1960's to today, a modern GE (Mazda type 22) 400G-30FL, the other two antiques and discontinued. A Mazda (with GE symbol that dates it) type 24 1000G-40FL and a GE non-Mazda but still discontinued (Mazda type 28) 2000G-48FL.

All lamps with the possible exception of the IF PS-35 lamp a 1929 lamp type accurate in what was used back than. Don't know for sure if frosted lamps such as the one shown were available back than or origional to the fixture. Following photos are the filaments of the various globe type lamps. And a photo of the various (spent) halogen lamps that replaced such lamps. Photo features a 2Kw CYX top left under the reflector, down center, vertical center and right various 2Kw BWF lamps, a 5Kw DPY down one and center and below that a incandescent 1.5Kw DTJ lamp.

Below the DTJ is various other halogen or arc source lamp styles not as jermain to the topic.
 

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the following photos are of the antique 3Kw 3MT32/2 GE #22860 dated to about 1968, very discontinued and still working is also a very antique and discontinued plus valuable lamp. (Not to mention in it's Kliegl #1179 follow spot just as bright a beam as that given off by 1.2Kw modern follow spot.

Note the size of the collector grid.
 

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