These light bulbs date from the early 20th century. They were made by the Pope Electric Lamp company.
‘Elasta’
These electric light bulbs are wrapped in paper bearing the name of the manufacturer. Look closely at the bulb in the bottom left and you can make out the word ‘Elasta’ printed on the glass.
‘Elasta’ was a brand name used by the Pope Electric Lamp company. It was intended to suggest longevity, and Elasta light bulbs were marketed as a durable product that would prove cheaper than their rivals over time.
This references an inherent problem with this type of lighting. Incandescent light bulbs, in which electricity is passed through a filament to create light, were cheap to produce but had a short lifespan.
This type of light bulb remained popular until the early 2000s when they were phased out in favour of more sustainable forms of lighting.
