Promoting Edison's Lamp
"Dispatch received this morning from steamer Columbia states she arrived
safe in Rio and that the Edison light is all right."
31 May 1880)
Edison's business sense has been questioned over the years. However, he
well the need to promote new inventions, and displayed keen salesmanship. He was
never too busy to talk to reporters or to demonstrate inventions to lab visitors. Edison
Company representatives traveled around the country and the world participating in
shows and expositions.
The New Year's Eve demonstration at Menlo Park (31 December 1879) became the
first in a series of promotional events, all designed to link Edison's name with the new
lighting technology in the public's mind.
S.I. image #79-2134
Oregon Railway and Navigation Company president Henry Villard attended the New
Year's Eve demonstration and became an instant Edison enthusiast. (He later became
president of Edison General Electric Company.) Villard boldly decided to purchase an
Edison lighting system for a new steamship,
the S. S. Columbia, then under construction for his company.
Not everyone believed that installing the new technology on the ship was prudent.
Edison himself apparently showed some reluctance, wanting to concentrate on his
idea of centrally generated power and not "isolated" power plants. Villard persisted
however, and Edison came to view the job as an opportunity for promoting the new
system. The Columbia installation became the first commercial order for Edison's
The ship was launched in February 1880 and sailed to New York where the
equipment was installed. In May the ship took on cargo and sailed for Portland,
Oregon, a trip of
about 10 weeks around South America. The installation proved both technically and
promotionally successful: the equipment functioned properly and the press reported
the story. Scientific American published an extensive article about the system, including
the illustration above.
Switch from Hinds, Ketcham & Co.
S.I. image #79-9466.12
Edison's first commercial installation on land was purchased by printers
Hinds, Ketcham & Co. Like the Columbia installation, this was an
meaning that the electricity came from a generator in the basement of the building, not
a central power station. The New York City location permitted those interested in buying
(or investing in) Edison equipment the opportunity to see the product in commercial
use. The company's lights went on in January 1881. Around 1900 the installation was
upgraded, and the switch seen here (and other objects) were donated to the Smithsonian.
Trade Shows & Expositions
"Edison" electric sign
S.I. image #2003-35552
In the era before newsreels, radio, or television, large events such as world's fairs
technology expositions were important venues for promoting new inventions.
Edison had shown telegraphic inventions at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition and knew
the value of this type of product exposure. Edison exhibits appeared in American shows
(Philadelphia, Cincinnati, 1888) and in European shows (Paris, London, 1881;
William J. Hammer, one of Edison's Menlo Park assistants, played a major role in
showing the Edison product in these expositions. The sketch seen here is his design for
"the first electric sign," which he developed for the Crystal Palace Exposition in
S.I. image #79-2132
Edison modeled his lighting system on the existing system of gas lighting. This
featured a centrally located supply of energy which users tapped through a system of
pipes. He believed this concept of centralized supply necessary to make his system
economical, and envisioned an underground distribution system of cables to carry
electricity from generating stations to end users.
Gaining permission to dig up city streets took time, especially with gas suppliers
to keep the new competitor out of the lighting business. Edison's representatives in
London, eager to demonstrate a central system, found a way around the issue by
proposing to run electric lines under the Holborn Viaduct. The location had the added
advantage of being near Fleet Street, home to various newspaper offices.
The temporary installation began service in January 1882 and operated until 1884long enough to prove that the concept was technically feasible. It also provided a
testing ground for Edison's first permanent station, planned for New York.
Pearl Street Station model
S.I. image #10,501
Edison constructed a full-scale, central generating station in New York City as a
point for further promotional efforts and a clear demonstration that his electric lighting
system worked. In addition to the light bulb, he had invented numerous additional items
necessary for the system, including especially a meter (to measure how much electricity
the customer used) and an improved generator.
The site for Edison's generating station had to satisfy both engineering and
needs. Using 100 volt direct current to power the new light bulbs resulted in a practical
limitationcustomers could be no further than ½ mile from the generator. To promote
the system, a high profile location was called for. Edison chose a site in the heart of
New York's financial district, 255 and 257 Pearl Street. On 4 September 1882, he
threw a switch in the office of one of his main investors, J. Pierpont Morgan, and
initiated service to the area.
Financially, the station's performance was mediocre. Costs were higher than
anticipated, and the station did not make a profit for about five years. The experience
gained at Pearl Street served Edison's purposes well, however. Responding to high
copper prices, for example, Edison designed a three-wire distribution system that
brought substantial savings to subsequent installations.
As a technical demonstration that Edison's system could function, the station proved
resounding success. Edison's financial backers, content with growing sales of
stand-alone "isolated" generating plants, urged caution in promoting central station
powerthey wanted to see Pearl Street in operation first. Satisfied with the station's
performance, they began licensing central systems throughout the U.S. By the end of
the 1880s, dozens of Edison companies were in business.
A fire caused extensive damage to the Pearl Street station in 1890, but Edison and
men worked around the clock for 11 days to restore service. The station was taken out
of service and dismantled in 1895, and the building sold and later demolished. The New
York Edison Company placed a commemorative plaque at the site in 1917.