Bulls eye lamp The wire ended bulb which appears to be rated at about 4.5V @ 300mA is made by Ediswan. It is soldered to two thin brass rods which pass through a copper parabolic reflector and are insulated from it by thin ebonite tubes. When first received in the early 1980's the reflector had been painted white but as this was flaking away I decided to remove it completely. I thought the reflector might have been nickel plated in the same way as the outer casing but I could find no evidence of this.
Side view showing push-pull switch and clip
(the cross headed screws are not original)
Peter
Knack has seen this page and identified it. It is a Lamp from
the Bristol Bicycle Company from 1899. He kindly forwarded details from
a catalogue from which we learn:
"The great advantages of an electric cycle lamp over the ordinary
oil lamp will at once be appreciated
Gives off neither smell nor smoke.
Does not extinguish by shaking or by the wind. Gives a far better light'
Does not spill oil on the lady's dress. Looks an ornament to the
machine. ' Can be lighted by pressing a switch.
No Matches required.
The lamps consist of a small accumulator in a neat leather case,
a bullseye lantern about 2in. in diameter and a double leather loop for
fixing the bulls eye to the hook."
A six volt and a twelve volt version was available and the the
accumulators came in two versions standard an non spill. If you are
interested in the history of bicycles see this site http://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk
