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Author Topic: Uranium glass headlights!  (Read 12346 times)

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Offline Frank

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2008, 08:19:35 PM »
So far the earliest reference is 1918 thanks to Tim on a light bulb collectors forum:

Quote
The Gasoline Automobile by Peter Martin Heldt, 1918
The source also mentions that a company called Esterline made an automobile headlamp using a Golden Glow reflector.  It would seem that “Golden Glow” was used loosely to describe such reflectors.

Esterline was set up in 1916 and until 1967 scientific instrument makers. No trace of patents with any of the names known now but it is Possible "Golden Glow" is just a nickname that stuck. Perhaps the concept arrived during WW1 when they need good compact bright lights and Arc Lamps were a bit cumbersome at that time. Possibly not a US invention, a lot of European countries have/had yellow headlights as standard, did they ever use uranium reflectors? Well, lots of questions, now you vaseline collectors better get to some vintage vehicle gatherings... armed with geiger and UV light  :)

It is possible that the use of a uranium reflector pre-dates electric light.

Offline Frank

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #11 on: February 24, 2008, 06:00:52 PM »
Over on the lightbulb forum at http://bulbcollector.com/
Tim has found two candidates for inventors

http://bulbcollector.com/forum/index.php?topic=1036.0

Offline Lustrousstone

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #12 on: February 24, 2008, 06:54:51 PM »
Interesting stuff, thank you for taking it further  :clap:

Offline JUGCC

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #13 on: December 02, 2010, 01:51:06 AM »
http://uranglass.gooside.com/goldenlight/goldeneng.htm

If anyone spots on in real life let me know!

My name is Ritsuo, and I am managing the Japan Uranium Glass Collectors Club (JUGCC). We have about 200 members.

The above page is machine-translated from Japanese to English, and may be difficult to read.

We have an automobile fog-light made by German maker for UK automobiles, and the front glass of this light is uranium glass.
The age is 1910-1920.

Japanese train light (so-called Golden Glow Light) is using uranium glass in its mirror, and front glass is NOT uranium glass.
The age is about 1930.

Recently, we acquired a big train head light of US steam locomotive.
It is similar to the above Japanese train light.
The age is 1920s.
 
Vaseline glass (Uranium glass) have been mostly used at homes.
The only scientific use is head-light, and vacuum tube (cathode ray tuber).

2010-Dec-02
Ritsuo
manager of the Japan Uranium Glass Collectors Club (JUGCC).

Offline Frank

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #14 on: December 02, 2010, 02:21:51 AM »
Welcome, it would be nice to hear about vaseline glass production in Japan.

Offline Frank

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #15 on: December 02, 2010, 02:27:01 AM »
Apologies you cover it here http://uranglass.gooside.com/UGjapan/UGjapan.htm thank you.

Offline mrvaselineglass

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #16 on: December 02, 2010, 04:38:39 AM »
I am in the USA, and I have a friend who has one of these headlights, and it is working and he put a blacklight bulb in it.  It is kinda cool!  I think he paid about $500 for it.  On all the streetcar lights I have seen, it is the reflector along the back surface that is made from uranium glass........except I have one that is the lens and it is made out of vaseline/uranium/canary glass (depending on what country you are in and what you call it).  From the outer rim to the top of the dome, it is over an inch thick and is convex.  The lens in the middle works and in bright sunlight, you can concentrate the sun enough to start a fire.  The neat part....It was made by Corning.  On the rim, it says CORNING MONEX, and a U.S. Pat. date of 12-9-13.  My lens has a few dings on it....but hey, it is 97 years old!  I have had it for about 12 years.  On another topic, I also have some old neon yellow uranium tubing that was made by Corning.  When installed in a Neon light, it glows green, without any UV rays.  If you go to www.vaselineglass.org, the VGCI logo at the top of the page is a neon light our club made with corning uranium tubing.

Mr. Vaseline Glass

Mod: Web address corrected.

Offline Lustrousstone

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #17 on: December 02, 2010, 07:05:32 AM »
Welcome. I've enjoyed your club's website many times.

Offline David E

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #18 on: December 02, 2010, 09:12:20 AM »
Welcome to the GMB and we all look forward to further contributions from Japan!

Congratulations on the site - most informative  :hiclp:
David
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Offline Frank

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Re: Uranium glass headlights!
« Reply #19 on: December 03, 2010, 01:31:33 AM »
The neat part....It was made by Corning.  On the rim, it says CORNING MONEX, and a U.S. Pat. date of 12-9-13....

It might just have been made in Scotland, for Corning. Although I have no evidence that they did produce uranium glass. Are you sure it is Monex not Monax? Moncrieff and Corning had some legal battles as both were making near identical 'pyrex' ended up with Moncrieff making for Corning in US as part of the solution deal. Moncrieff had no interest in domestic products and allowed Corning to license Pyrex production in the UK. Corning were also allowed to use Monax a Moncrieff trademark in restricted markets. Unfortunately no detailed records of the deals.

 

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