Tumblr favorite #640: Real-world tube girl

Tumblr favorite #639: They don't call Ming "the Merciless" for nothing
Tumblr favorite #641: New tube girl

Old newspapers throw up the darndest things. Original post here.

Original text:

livelymorgue:

From the Mid-Week Pictorial: Marian Holmes knelt inside the glass of a 100,000-watt incandescent bulb to be exhibited by the Westinghouse Company at the World Fair in Chicago. She held a 60-watt bulb for comparison. The caption noted that the bulb “must be strong enough to withstand a crushing strain of 40,000 pounds.” Aug. 4, 1934. Photo: The New York Times

A very literal tube girl!

2 thoughts on “Tumblr favorite #640: Real-world tube girl

  1. I wonder what they needed a 100,000 watt bulb for? A lighthouse, or signaling Mars?

    • I don’t know myself. These guys at an electronics forum found an actual specimen in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (and they included a picture), where it appears to have been frustratingly lacking in documentation. The lead poster speculated that it might have been used as experimental stadium lighting or in some cinematic function.

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