Vintage Lighting Pevear Lights

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-Pevear Color Supply Company, From notes:

71 Brimmer Street, Boston. Directed by Munroe Pevear, Unique optical scenic lighting equipment with high standards. No Catalogue but amongst fixtures: “Soft-edge” Spotlights, tormentor and teaser lens units, cyclorama color mixing units, rotating border lights, Wellesly and Pilgram (Strand) projector units, as well as a combination direct and indirect footlight units. c.1924, 1929 Listed & c.1930-1940 Listed.

Please, who ever I “loaned out my other copy of Fuch’s “Stage Lighting” to, return it.

Fuch’s 1928' p.17: “The Lighting apparatus — the various types of instruments – and the mens of control are also open to fundamental improvement, aside from the more obvious superficial faults that should be corrected. Further and deeper study of the sciences of optics and color as applied to stage lighting, such as being carried on by Munroe R. Pevear of Boston, who was at one time a practicing architect, should accomplish much towards providing the means of producing light and color that will be both efficient and pliable in the hands of the lighting director. Further research into the electrical and mechanical features of light control should render more accurate, more flexible, and more convenient the manipulations of the stage switch - board, the nerve center of the entire lighting system – the intricate keyboard at which will be played the symphonic component, in light, to the art of the actor and the stage designer.”

Wow! In paging thru the appendix and index last sections of my sleeved very antique master copy of the book, I am now realizing one of two pages in the book at the end were not cut!!!! Just lost in info like two pages of info in the bible of stage lighting for many pages in my notes on that to either cut the pages and veify pages known of, or new into! Sorry book dealers... info I want to know how even if I cut open the never opened pages from c.1928... Looking to find the p.17 further references to Pevear in a long part of the book in references and indexes I now find un-opened pages in the rear of the book... (Kind of like reading one of my posts but 1920's more documented.) Talking “Index of Subject Matter” in addition to other index/s. Lots of more pages to cut open and see if from the loaned out book have the info already in note. I assume cut open pages from mis-print lessens the value of the book.

Next section “Index of Names”
(Page 17 (above), 51, and 119.)
Page 17 related above, Page 51 below in identifying the fixture below.

Section about the “Fortuny system” in chapter of strip lights not just being strip lights.... but amazing concept in study!!! (Term paper in concept of!!!)

P.51
“..., For belasco’ benefit, but with and perfected, primary, of course, for Belasco’s benefit, but gratuitously available to all who care to use them. Belasco shares his enviable repatriation with his chief lighting assistant, Louis Hart-mann, who has worked out all his lighting for more than a quarter of a century, and whose experience in stage lighting began many years before he became associated with Gelacose. Some of the first incandescent spotlights were developed by Hartmann in Gelasco’s laboratory, as were also the for recent bowed - silver reflector discs.

Munroe R. Pevear is another outstanding figure in the field of American stage-lighting activity. His Investigations in color (1911) have proved especially valuable. These have made possible the manufacture of color media of unusually high spectral purity. He was one of the first to advocate the application of color synthesis to commercial use and stage lighting – the employment of the light primary colors (Red, Green, and Blue), in combination with clear tinting, to obtain any possible color of light. His application of scientific optical principals to special problems in stage lighting has resulted in the development of stage lighting equipment that is truly unique in general effeteness, optical efficiency, and mechanical construction combined with convenience of operation. The “Soft-edge” spotlight, a footlight unit for indirect as well as direct illumination, the tormentor and teaser lens units, and the special close-operating color mixing cyclorama lighting units are several of Pevear’s comparatively recent developments.”

P.119 is about gels Pevear invented.


(Note from Fuch’s 1928... Scottish Rite Theater is not mentioned as a theater in a list of Names of Persons, Plays and Theatres. Nor’ was the 1911 Atheneum Chicago I worked in.) Not misspelling from 1928 on words spelled in wording of the day where otherwise needed to correct.

(Above notes on the brand mostly from Fuch’s Stage Ligthing - 1928 in sources, with additions from other books when the brand was also mentioned or catalogues cited.)

 

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Photos of the Pevear

 

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So main photos, was rusted stuck solid to a boom base stand say 6' high. Thinking this with cyc's was the main cyc lighting fixture. "Smoothe edge fixture." Lamp is gone - probably 1Kw by this time, but still mounted to a boom base stand is meaning what it was intended for on stage adjustmenent say the Cyc, and hard to say it was intended for other locations.

Interesting in lamp mounting kind of a set into a ring lamp socket but adjustable by way of ring the lamp socket fits in, or seat height of it gets screwed up and down for the height - similar to what Major was doing for lamp filament bench focus. Major used fixed bases where the Mog. Screw E-39 lamp socket in relation to it's filament was not adjustable. Very unusual for concept in both being done especially the spin the filament lamp socket and it's seat height. And very old concepts in hard as normal to be able to replace a lamp by c1925 with rear access to the fixture in that you have to remove the bench focused reflector to access the lamp, but its got a reflector to also focus so fairly assumed to the theater age an expensive fixture. Huge problem in this fixture is the sliding c.1902 like back panel to a box light like 8" PC fixture so as to access the lens.

I cannot believe Fuch's notes that this is a good fixture given the cord grips are on the rear of slide access panel. So you have that slide access complete rear panel, than the reflector with wiring runing thru to access the lamp and spin the lamp socket for focus....

The slide for the reflector is way too close to the lamp base for this light to have other than a tubular lamp. In other words, not a Globe lamp I think designed for the fixture, yet still medium screw base. Interesting on the medium screw base with a ring to mount it's base! Note that if mounting on a ring, you can focus the filament of the screw in lamp for polar cooridnants, and the other images say you can raise or lower that prosimity to focus. You just cannot left to right if off in early lamps.

Wierd wiring for it in slotted back of it and lack of double of double wall and more rounded type of PC fixture by than.

Note the gobo wheel which is manual so has to be tech person operated.... thinking that while not the best color choices so far cleaned.... a on stage cyc wash, boom mounted at about 6'.

Tell me and as especially about what's going on with that second focus wing screw which has an asbestos insulator sandwitched as if for the mountings of a heat shied, but none indidicated. Dont't know other than there is something focusable with a gel frame type mounting and asbostos insulater between lamp = possibly a tubular lamp due to proximity, in this light. What's up front of it...???? I don't understand what is focusable between the lamp and front lens given flat plate insulated adjustable mounting - yet.

 

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PS...

-Pevear Color Supply Company, From notes:

71 Brimmer Street, Boston. Directed by Munroe Pevear, Unique optical scenic lighting equipment with high standards....

Before taking apart the fixture... "High standards" is like standards of 1910 at best or worse mechanically. Though it does have a rear reflector to the incandescent filamet... I have seen many between 1916 and 1928 which were by far better able to use that silvered reflector. Only thing curious about this fixture is that the lamp base is not mounted to a pentium carriage! Instead it's mounted to a gravity fed mountiong ring for the lamp base similar to what Major was doing. Never seen that before as with the question of what that second focus flat plat was for in including a non focus and very close focus removabable reflector in assembly. In the gravity mounted lamp base, you could spin the E-39 lamp socket and lock it in higher or lower in filament center to the lens by screw focus. But the reflector isn's "science experient type in mounting," instead I think and might be incorrect this light used a tubular lamp given proximity of reflector to the lamp socket.

TBA in taking apart and understanding. Perhaps a lot to learn about fixture design. TBD.

 

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Finally onto the Pevear 8" with color wheel cyc light. As a 1924 light... some paint use/storage damage, the leather washers are dry rotton, but no rust at all other than in the pipe fittings to the stand. Unusual in lack of rust.

Pevear is an unusual PC fixture given its later date in the age of PC fixtures for good and bad concepts in design by that period, but also has something unique by way of also a starting of a lens train of sorts, and the start of refining the filament and reflector to the reality of the lamp, and unique to it. It’s a good and important answer to questions about LEKO design.

It’s all stamped steel design - no aluminum cast front or back plates normal by than, and this means for some reason also no rear lamp changing hinged door. Instead it’s a slide plate from the rear of the light which allows access to changing the lamp etc. Not a bad concept other than effecting the structure some... but is a bad thing in that the porcelain bushings to feed wire into the fixture are fed thru that rear slide plate. Stupid concept in that in order to change out the G-40 / 1Kw lamp... you had to fit it in between the wiring which also hangs down in blocking easy access to adjustment of the fixture. That movement of wiring and slack could once one slid the rear plate home to have an adverse effect on your bench focus should one wire move it... And in general it wears on the wire in a way not wanted. If too much slack in the fixture it would also bunch up and block light.... Rear slide access panel to change and focus the lamp, with cord bushings and wire run thru it, worst part of the fixture. Such a rear slide is back to about the 1910 age of design at best for design, and even than the wiring was not on the back plate in run thru it.

Fixture has a reflector (premium option for the day given the inefficient large filaments with often at random where that lamp would screw into it’s base reflector wise than for filament height or filament orientation. Metaled chromed mirror reflector is easily removable and adjustable up to down and forward and backwards as with diagonally. Great time can be spent in screwing up or making this a perfect focus.

Interesting the lamp socket! Never seen this before! Even into 1948, if you stuck your hand into a lamp socket or put a screw driver into the wrong place... there would be at best a short during bench focus assuming you could adjust it at times. This E-39 has a completely adjustable lamp socket in that it can go up or down, and turn left and right dependant on the lamp \in adjusting the lamp to bench focus. Just a clamp around the lamp socket. The lamp socket itself was completely safe given they ceramic porcelained up the entire wiring part of the lamp socket. Nobody I have seen has done that. A bit of a challenge to remove but not overly difficult once the chisel was re-sharpened. Chipped out easy enough and easy enough to reproduce in doing.

Other than oxidation and a little bit of wear, no real damage to the lamp socket. Easy to reproduce how done with ceramic. Can sleeve a woven fiberglass over coating of the medium SF-2 modern wiring, and I can ground it without too much work in masking the ground wire under the outer sleeving.

How they did the lens mount is amazing/curious. Lower lens holding clips are peen rivet mounted, uppers are 6-32 studs in the front assembly with nuts retaining the lens brackets. Easy to remove and clean. Interesting is the clips as normal for retaining a lens are not touching the lens. There is a welded lens retaining ring between lens and the clips. Never saw that before but is a great idea as with the easy access to remove the lens. (Did they have 5/16" nut drivers back than?)

I skipped the movable part between lamp socket and mounted lens for a reason. It’s why in Fuch’s “Stage Lighting” 1928 this light got a mention. There is something between the lamp and lens in it’s own focus which makes it more than just another PC (Plano Convex) lighting fixture. Made it a smooth wash of light sufficient that a 8" PC fixture could be a cyc light source of light from the ground and with a color wheel for doing that.

There is something strange about this PC fixture which I think important to history of stage lighting about this fixture in a way different than the Strand Patt #73 (after the invention of the Leko) was per the last PC fixture near a Leko in invention from across the pond.... This Pevear perhaps is earlier but a concept in what made the fixture important to history. It has a dual lens of sorts! In 1924! And as mentioned above, completely focusable for what ever lamp of type was installed!

Fixture has a front to rear focusable lens mount of some sort on the same track with the lamp focus slide. Asbestos pads insulate the mounting of say a 1/8" thick lens or flat glass of some type were mounted inside the clamp. Some sort of semi-frosted lens or just glass in a lens train? Don’t know, it’s gone/broken away years ago.

Good news is the left stage fixture exists... just have to squeeze into a room with a blocked door.. And might have to break thru the door to get out... but a chance... the other fixture has that intact assembly not broken.

I know it’s not a Mica thing given the gap in the asbestos pads, most likely a 1/8" thick glass plane, and that glass given the description of soft edge was probably frosted at least around the edges. By luck found a historic lighting fixture. In my case, where to put it in limited shop spaces afforded to antiques. Two last carbon arc’s worked on are in a storage building 7 miles away. That and just sold my last c.1928 spoked stand with a ghost light I made for a tour - loaner stand... This fixture was a stand light for focus on the cyc with a manual color wheel in 1924... Important to go back to that. The old theater should have the missing parts, and obviously I would restore their stage left light version for their own uses. Think I can get this restored competely and it will be really cool as it’s original gel. Or at least what was last used.

 

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Early cursive writing for the past century is getting hard to read... It's not Middle English writing, but not 1970's cursive writing I was taught. Wonder what some day it will be called? Says "Lens Side" in me looking at it again. This means this bracket was mounting some sort of sub-lens about 1/16" thick which had to be orientated in a specific direction to the lens beyond just proximity between lenses. Says to me given the flat bracket and square box style of the fixture - a square glass heat resistant lens of some sort, perhaps sand blasted around a circle in softening the edges of the beam the manufactur was famous for. Also explains the second focus wing nut and bracket. Didn't know heat resistant glass was invented by 1924, but Pevear was also mostly known for making glass colored gels, so I think I'm on the right track on that concept.

Asbestos lens padding replaced by ceramic fiber padding.

Sand blasted part away from the light source I would than reasonably think should be away from the heat source?

Yea, I was so able to replace the asbostos wiring to the lamp socket cemented into it... Little cleaning of the lamp socket and coating. Coming tomorrow a fiberglass sleeving for over coating on the SF-2 wire which will simulate the origional asbestos wiring to the fixture... a little larger in having that restrained "Pop effect". Next to ground and add that ground wire under the sleeving with the hot, tie a knot and friction tape dress the rest of the 6' cord at intervals into a plug.

Re-assembly of the fixture and give back to the theater probably with a G-40 LED lamp bench focused for it in working as a lobby sculpture light - once I find it's stand at the theater.

There are two of these fixtures for lighting the cyc in addition to the strips, I have one... In a closet on the first stage right balcony level, back in a storage closet with a blocked by scenery door which will only open 6" at this point is the other fixture as with two more lights I want one of and probably restore the other for them. The second PC Cyc fixture might still have the lens I theorize of installed. Beyond that, adds to the trust level in the concept that I can restore their old lights in value for resale, and know all other parts of the theater in stuff they might be finding as they work on it.

Found a widget stage left hanging off the wall.. It's a Stage Screw and goes with the stage braces back stage. Yet to find on the floor where they were screwed in but would be interesting... Stuff like that in send me a photo of what you found I might have insite on it and value. Beyond the install/modern.. working on more value to them in dealing with what they have, it's purpose etc.

Unfortunately once taken apart the 8" x 5 slot manual gel wheel is toast by way of rust. Needs to get sand blasted and re-painted high temp matt black which will be a challenge in not really a paint that exists. Panels holding the gel wheel are spot welded at it's center, so you kind of have to spread the frame to sand blast and paint, but than not pop the welds.

Yes the sides of the mounting were pounded in almost flat for some reason with end user hammer. Will probably have welding / Metals shop restore if possible that. No real reason to pount that part flat other than tight fit it will have been, but hanging straight. There is a bronze stop for sliding it in too far and locking it onto the fixture I will look into later.

As normal, a lot to learn from the past in lighting. This 1924 Pevear in some why you could draw a line in it's soft beam invention to that of the lens train of a LEKO c.1936.

 

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Above fixture I already worked on is I now think 2nd generation of the fixture type. Kind of cool, I even found it's original base, it's stand pipe and adjustment stop recently. Found some parts in the storage room under the orchestra pit - literally a room under there, and that's not even the lowest sub-basement.

This is the lamp socket assembly to a 1st generation 1924 Pevear Lighting effects projector (basically a PC fixture with a color wheel.) I started working on it tonight. It has a strap to mount the lamp socket which can be loosened to adjust up and down or twist right and left the lamp socket for optimizing the filament of the lamp to the reflector. The reflector is also fully adjustable up and down and left to right (same between generations.) Lamps, especially screw base lamps back than could be that far off any standardization up until say the ?60's. The bracket in front of the lamp base on this 1st generation one was for what I theorize is a high temp. glass flat lens with frosted edges so as to soften the otherwise harsh edge of a PC beam. It's also adjustable forward and back but hard to adjust given where its mounts are. 2nd gen. (above posts) had this frosting lens on a completely separate slide plate & adjustment knob - I now have both & know why this one is missing the 2nd knob..

Another note in difference between fixtures is this one has a broom handle knob, the other a more complex thumb screw/wing nut assembly for adjustment. Same fixture otherwise in all ways. Still the terrible c.1910 concept of of a sliding plate to access the lamp - once you removed the porcelain bushings. Next remove the reflector - which will now have to be re-focused - you have to completely remove it to access the lamp... Possibly optically and focusably better, but you have to start over and take it all apart to change lamps - not a easy process.

Neither fixture has a surviving frosted edge lens, but the asbestos padding says there was once a 1/8" thick piece of glass there - doing something. And history notes these fixtures with better optics in giving a smoother wash.

 

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Missing a front lens... i can work with that in having another vintage wide focus 8" lens. Ah' snap!, this v.1 example had like a 9" lens with 8" gate. And there must have been some form of at least 1/2" standoff between lens and gate - also missing, the brackets won't work, short of a standoff in securing the lens. Luckily the lens assembly slides into the gel frame bracket by way of two screws mounting it. In also finding it missing two lens mounting brackets, and a second 8" set of countersunk mounting bracket holes were found all around.. Someone in the past added a 9 or 10" lens to the fixture in drilling new holes and re-purposing only some of the brass lens mounting clips for some long past gone replacement lens.

Back in the game once mounting clips with brass pound rivets - early repair, were replaced back to original holes with new pound rivets & 4-40 countersunk mounting screws to the top half. Should I be heating the brass pound rivets up before pounding?

1/2" standoff from re-purposed aluminum lens mounting of some type from some followspot. Lots of bending and some cutting, than re-cutting... More experience needed for doing this again & have to look at what was done with the origional say gen. 2 in what spacer was done.

Re-produced the missing brass / bronze lense mounting clips, too short, need to re-make & drill out the one mounted, but getting close.

Back in 1924, there would be no reason to countersink mounting holes for a 8" lens bracket, than also provide holes for like a 9 or 10" lens. Pound rivets - so early done, and not as many mounting brackets for the lens for the "repair"... so fairly certain it was only a 8" lens origionally installed. Decent work but cut corners also.

While I have my spacer, I need to climb up the ladder to see what was done for spacer on the V-2 version for mounting the lens. Not too late to stop what I'm doing yet and change to be similar.

Thinking of stopping by my local glass store tomorrow... What for next to a 1Kw lamp, might 1/8" thick glass was available in 1924 for frosting the edges of a say 7" dia. lens next to it as theorized to be the "magic of this fixture"? I am fairly certain I know a froseted edge donut plane of glass was there... None exist. Something 1/8" thick was there.

 

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Mostly assembled.... Checking lens mounting.... !!! Lens sticking into gel frame slot once sitting on the fabricated standoff.

@!!&#!! and did I say !!@&!!

Pulling up a photo front view for the almost complete Gen. 2 fixture before I worked on it, confirmed hours this weekend in even pounding brass pound rivets to mount brackets.... yea.. I know what the problem is. And removing a pound rivet than re-using the hole is almost impssible.

So a history... in why this theater has both gen.1 and gen.2 fixtures - no idea, but here it is from there. Gen.1 fixtgure broke it's lens possibly at the stame time as breaking it's inner frosting edge lens. Factory boom base for the fixture is a little light if not stage screwed down or too high in elevation. This fixture is 1924 so pre-the Fresnel lens.

Someone kind of brilliant but also a little lazy say after 32 or 34' but before the 50's (a guess) in rivet guns replaced the lens with a 9 or 10" fresnel lens which being flat needed a spacer of some sort under the lens for some reason? Needed to make new brackets to mount the lens out of 18 or 20 ga. brass. This Fresnel lens probably worked fairly well until it also broke.

Lazy though in note from the Gen.2 fixture, there is two pound rivets per lower bracket, gen.1 there was only one, and there was only 6 of 8 installed. On the top of the fixture there is four single screws and brackets attaching the lens to plate, but eight holes - the brackets were installed on the upper hole with only two brackets..

Who ever I think installed the Fresnel lens, created all new brackets, but installed them up-side down in the pound rivets installed on the single hole screw mounts from the top, and the screws on the dual screw mounts upper holes. Very strange - and why these days we take a lot of photo's or do drawings, or get exploded pictorials of what we work on.

Once the Fresnel lens broke.. fixture was put into a store room and burried in a storage room closet. Room next to it the other gen.2 fixture with all but the frosting lens complete. The rest of it's parts from stand to stop... found all about the theater.

Once figured out the problem with lenses.... given how hard it is to remove a brass pound rivet, I left them for lower lamp mounting. Cut down and re-shaped all mounting brackets in making more for the top. At some point an accurate repair would damage the fixture more than it's worth.

 

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Stage Lighting, 1st edition - Theadore Fuchs 1929, p.85 Chapter IV - Light..
"The size of the spot produced by a spotlight can be changed by varying the distance from the lamp to the lens. When the lamp is far back in the housing, as Pictured, in the previous sketches, the beam of light will be narrow, and the resultant spot of light will be correspondingly small. If the lamp is close to the lens, as piectured below, the spot produced will be large. Of course, the spherical mirror must be fixed to the same movable plate, or rod, to which are fixed the socket and the lamp, and the combination must move as a unit, because the effectiveness of the mirror depends upon its being always at the correct distance from the lamp filament."

The book before this was describing open faced "Flood" lenseless lights verses PC lensed fixtures. The Leko and Fresnel were not invented yet. It than goes on to describe condenser lens fixtures such as the "Magic Lantern", the stereopticon, the motion-picture mahine, and in the stage adaptation of these devices- the sciopticon....

I was working on tonight a 2nd type of Pevear fixture than the cyc light above. Looks a lot like a large Kliegl or Century box spot with 6" PC lens. Reflector is mounted to the rear of the fixture though. Lamp focus slide Plentium plate also has a fixed bracket to mount the above theorized frosted edge donut glass plate between lamp and lens similar to the second PC cyc light above. Lens in this case is fixed, and as if a top hat, slides into the gel frames horizontally as normal for say pre-1928 fixtures. This I believe so it can become in choice a wash or spot fixture, and or for adding a metal gel frame which I would date between say 1920 and 1928 between lens and lamp in this case as far different than what other companies did in lenses pointing inward and gel outside the lens. (Found a pre-1920 style wood gel frame with gel at the theater!!! - that's super early)

Other companies - no other companies had a (theorized) donut edge frosted lens between lamp and lens . Or in this case, since I know the age of the theater in being specific 1924... they were doing something Leko before the Leko was invented.

Theory on my part is a say 5" frosted edge donut between lamp/spherical reflector and it's lens made for a softened edge on the otherwise PC or in this case even wash light fixture. As a theory this could work. (Photos' on the way and I will test what this does, though I don't have a lot of time to test given I'm using a polycarbonate donut to test donut.

So what I don't get is the fixed reflector part of it in how this all works. Anyone computer savvy able to program up and photometrics up something by Friday for me? Mayor of Peoria, and probably the new owner of the building are coming to see the theater in demo of both modern thater we did and old lights found Friday morning. I don't get the concept of the fixed reflector with movable lamp yet, but have to explain it.

Tomorrow night, I'll have the fixture finished, take photos and can play with it otherwise, but graphics good in photometrics and understanding also of help. Pre-thanks to anyone that looks into this concept.

 

[almorton]

As I understand it, the reason the reflector distance is fixed is because it's reflecting "wasted" light back through the filament so that it remains a point source. If the reflector to lamp distance changed the source would change. You see this effect in profiles where you can adjust the reflector distance to change whether the field is peaky or flat. I'd say for PC or fresnel fixtures or washes you don't want that peaking.