LAMPS AND LIGHTING

Those engaged in selling home furnishings are well aware of the fact that accessories of all types are important factors in increasing sales, and that by suggesting the use of proper accessories, many "plus" sales are made. Many times, new accessories are so incongruous with the other older furnishings in the room, they have caused an entire room to be refurnished and brought up to date. This is particularly true of lamps.

We are standing today on the threshold of an entirely new era in lighting. New illuminants are being developed and new methods are being devised for applying light to meet the needs of modern living. Only a little over a third of a century has passed since the first incandescent lamp was invented by Thomas A. Edison, and the electrical industry has since made tremendous progress. The cost of current has been cut in half due to engineering accomplishments and the illuminating engineer has taken advantage of this progress to develop a more liberal and a more intelligent use of light.

Scientific principles have been applied to all phases of home lighting and standard specifications worked out by the Illuminating Engineering Society for all types of lamps. Using a footcandle as a standard measurement of light intensity, the illuminating engineers have made these findings:

1. In normal sunlight there are 10,000 footcandles of light. In the shade of a tree there are 1,000 footcandles, and indoors during the sunlight hours there are 5 footcandles of light.

2. The efficiency of a standard candle flame source is calculated to be the equivalent of about 0.1 of a lumen per watt (1 lumen is the quantity of light given from a single candle on a surface 1 foot square). Edison's first lamp had 1.4 lumens per watt, and present-day 100-watt electric bulbs have 1,520 lumens.

3. Light is made up of all colors of the rainbow. This was discovered in 1666 when Newton passed a beam of sunlight through a prism and learned that light had in it all the colors of the rainbow, which, when mixed in the proper proportions, produce white light. A combination of all these colors produces sunlight, and in different proportions, incandescent light.

Lamps for home use, now on the market, may roughly be divided into two major divisions, decorative lamps and utilitarian lamps. Under these main divisions are the classifications of the various types of lamps, such as decorative, table, commode, and floor lamps, scientific desk lamps and utilitarian lamps for various rooms and purposes.

1. Decorative lamps are those used primarily for decoration. Table and commode lamps fall largely under this classification, for living room use, and vanity and boudoir lamps for bedroom use. Decorative lamps use a variety of materials for bases such as china, glass, metal, pottery, terra cotta, wood, porcelain, and marble and employ ornate shades which in many instances greatly reduce the illuminating ability of the lamp. Several years ago, before the principles of lighting were given the consideration they are receiving today, lamps which were purely decorative were in much greater demand than they are at present. Today's decorating principles demand that lamps should be useful as well as decorative, and most lamps on the market conform to good standards of lighting. There are, however, lamps designed strictly for decoration which employ dark shades using such materials as quilted velvet, chenille, wood veneer or other opaque fabrics, and which are of unusual shapes that restrict the light. These lamps, while serving a definite need in a decorative scheme, should not be used for reading purposes or provide the only illumination in a room. The purely decorative lamp should be treated merely as an accessory and used in the same manner as a vase or a non-illuminating object.

2. Utilitarian lamps are those which adhere for the most part to scientific standards of lighting, and are designed for specific rooms and purposes.