Glass Kerosene Lamp

During this era most cities were being lit up with gas lamps. With the first public demonstration of outdoor electrical lighting in the US in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 29, 1879, this pushed many investors to invent new ways to light up cities. On October 22, 1879, Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light that burned for 13 and a half hours, which could compete with gas lighting (particularly for indoor use). Incandescent bulbs would go on to dominate the world of lighting until fluorescent lights were introduced commercially by Daniel McFarlan Moore circa 1904. Concurrently, in 1901, Peter Cooper Hewitt developed the first mercury-vapor light that was both high efficiency and compatible with standard electrical infrastructure. Later, in the 20th century saw the rise of high intensity discharge (HID) lamps and later Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights.

However, in rural areas electrical light was not available, which forced residents of the area to still use gas, oil or Kerosene lamps up to the 1930s. The Glass Hurricane Lamp on display would be of the many lighting devices used in rural areas. This partially glass lamp appears to have been made from a white glazed ceramic, possibly fueled kerosene, it also contains a knob protruding to the right that adjusts the flame size. Even though the average school day in the U.S. during this time would be would start around 9 am to 3-4pm, with some school possibly starting early or later; teachers like they do today, would stay after school grading, help out students, or even living at the school (some schools would a building attached or close to the school where the teacher could live out of).