EARLY LIGHTING -BRUSH ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING CO - 1887  ILLUSTRATED BILLHEAD
Billhead. 6 ¾” x 8 ½” illustrated billhead to the City of New York (presumably for street lighting).
In 1876 Charles F. Brush invented a new type of simple, reliable, self-regulating arc lamp, as well as a new dynamo designed to power it. Earlier attempts at self regulation had often depended on complex clockwork mechanisms that, among other things, could not automatically re-strike an arc if there were an interruption in power. The simpler Brush  made central station lighting a possibility for the first time. In the late 1870's small Brush arc lamp installations were being purchased by individuals, department stores, theaters, and factories. 1880 saw the first larger scale commercial use of arc lamps for street lighting as Brush plants, and eventually those of competitors like Thomson-Houston, were established in a number of large cities throughout the US. In 1880 Brush successfully demonstrated arc lighting along Broadway, and soon thereafter built New York's first central station. Similar systems were installed all over the world. In 1889 the Brush Electric Company was purchased by the Thomson-Houston company, which then merged with the Edison Electric Company in 1892 to form the General Electric Company. GE and others continued manufacturing arc lamps for decades despite the predominance of incandescents. Arc lamps were simply much brighter, and better suited to certain applications.
Overall VG. (Jb 513); $85.