Hi vintage~
The history of night lights is a long one, so I'll have to be brief :)
Night lights have been around for as long as history has been
recorded.
At first, they were just candles or oil lamps in typical holders, then
Betty Lamps were used (see http://kafcs.com/history.html for a very
brief history of this sort of "lamp"), and then kerosene lamps.
(Burning candles by the bedside was dangerous, but a kerosene lamp,
turned down low, with a cover, was relatively safe.)
In 1844 George Miller Clarke received a British patent for a new type
night light, later to be called a "fairy lamp" or "fairy light." This
night light used candles, but had a glass cover for safety...and as
the century progressed, these covers grew more and more elaborate. For
a history of fairy lamp manufacturing, check out:
http://www.fairy-lamp.com/Fairylamp/ArticleAntiqueTrader1986.html
For a brief, but nicely lit site on fairy lamps, also check out:
http://www.myantiquemall.com/AQstories/fairylamps/FairyLamps.html
This article gives some good starting info on collecting fairy lamps:
http://iaia.essortment.com/fairylamps_rtfe.htm
Thomas Edison himself invented the electric night light (
http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/tecumseh/student/5/edisonhb.htm ), although
I've been unable to unearth an exact date for that invention.
For more information about the night light, see if you can find this
book "Evolution of the Night Lamp," published by Wallace-Homestead.
ABE Books has it available used; just go to this page and type in the
title in the appropriate field, and hit "Start Search:"
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookSearch
As for why they were first used...Well, for the same reasons they are
used today. Namely, to help people see in order to get to the bathroom
facilities without blinding themselves, stubbing their toe, or
completely waking themselves or their bec partners. They were also
commonly used in children's rooms, to comfort the child and make
"checking in" on them a bit easier.
Hope this helps!
Kriswrite
Keywords Used:
"fairy lights" Victorian
://www.google.com/search?q=%22fairy+lights%22+Victorian&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=40&sa=N
electric "night light" invent*
://www.google.com/search?q=electric+%22night+light%22+invent*&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N
"betty lamp"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22betty+lamp%22 |
