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single early 1920's intact green porcelain enameled fully functional pendant light fixture designed and fabricated by the benjamin electrical company, chicago, ills. the flat or shallow dome-shaped reflector is original and in great condition. the slightly tapered housing contains a single ceramic socket. the threaded stem or pipe and flat ceiling cap or canopy are original to the fixture. the underside of the rolled rim shade retains the original white reflective finish. reuben berkley benjamin and his benjamin electric manufacturing company was a chicago, illinois electrical company founded in the late 19th century. the company filed its first patent for an electric lamp socket in 1898. the company went on to manufacture various other electrical products. one of benjamin's most notable products was their series of non-contact fire alarm horns, introduced in the early 1920s. they were available in flush-mount, single, and double projector versions, in either red or gray. these horns were mainly used by ibm, and later simplexgrinnell up until the 1960s. in 1958, benjamin was bought out by thomas industries, inc. the company's factory in illinois was closed in 1963. founder reuben berkley benjamin graduated with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering, class of 1892, and was one of the three men to whom iowa state college first granted a degree in electrical engineering, at ames, iowa, in 1892. after graduation, mr. benjamin entered the chosen field of his profession, as employed by the commonwealth edison company in chicago. he invented the wireless cluster, a device which perfected and revolutionized the lighting fixture. in 1901, with his patents, benjamin partnered with three ames men (from iowa state college): w. clyde jones, walter d. steele, and keene h. addington, law partner of mr. jones. he launched a business from his chicago home’s basement with his wife, annie knott benjamin as his bookkeeper. he continued to engage in the invention and manufacture of electrical appliances. reuben was the head of the benjamin electric manufacturing company, which expanded from chicago to new york, san francisco, toronto, canada and london, england. he patented more than 350 devices, mostly in the field of electric lighting, with more patents pending at the time of his death. he was fourth among inventors in the united states for the number of patents received with edison as the number one. he was a proficient mathematician, skilled engineer, and a competent executive; as well as a member of the american association of electrical engineers. in addition to the wireless cluster, he was the inventor of the weather-proof, one-piece socket-reflector dome lighting system, the swivel plug, the benjamin crysteel porcelain enameled products (e.g. table tops, stove parts, washing machine tubs, refrigerators, refrigerator linings, and similar products), the “benco” socket, “benox” interchangeable devices, two-way plugs, many designs of industrial lighting equipment, safety lighting for oil refineries and places where gases or explosive dusts are present, besides hundreds of wiring improvements, many of which have been generally adopted. he was a collaborator in the development of “elexits.” he was also the inventor of the r.l.m. (reflector and lamp manufacturers), and this patent was sold to general electric company who in turn licensed its use to manufacturers. the r. l. m. reflector dome and others developed by the benjamin company have had a profound influence in the improvement of industrial illumination, and it would be difficult to estimate the dollar value of the increased production and efficiency that have resulted since their introduction. nearly every electrical consumer, industrial and domestic, uses one or more of mr. benjamin’s inventions, including two, three and four-way wireless plugs, wireless and adjustable stand-lamp clusters, swivel attachment plugs, r. l. m. dome reflectors, weather proof sockets, and many others. after his death, benjamin electric ltd. company continued on with his legacy. two of the most noticeable accomplishments were the “benjamin” flood lighting system in westminster abbey for the queen elizabeth ii coronation in 1953 (benjamin electric ltd. manufactured equipment used by holophane ltd. at coronation) and the tower bridge of london in 1964. measures 15 inches high x 14 inches in diameter.
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all original c. 1920's green porcelain enameled shallow or flat bowl fully functional factory ceiling pendant light or reflector with original pipe and ceiling cap
SKU:
UR-27453-18
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