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Tensor lamp

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 96.64.134.61 (talk) at 21:39, 12 April 2020 (Undid revision 947880514 by 2600:8805:D480:6E0:4C53:BD18:A393:821E (talk) - reverted in good faith; "Tensor lamp" (uppercase) is a registered trade mark of the Tensor Corporation and no other company has yet to sell a low voltage lamp as a "tensor" lamp (lowercase)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tensor High Intensity Lamp (ca 1959, Brass, steel, copper, plastic, glass). Kept at the Brooklyn Museum. Gift of Jay Monroe

A Tensor lamp is a small high-intensity and low-voltage desk lamp invented by Jay Monroe.[1][2] The lamp was mainly popular during the 1960s and 1970s.[3][4] The lamp was originally used by doctors and dentists, and later became more widely used.[5]

History

The first Tensor lamp consisted of assembling together a 12-volt automobile parking light bulb and reflector made from an ordinary kitchen measuring cup. Monroe fixed the cup to a metal tube that was attached to a transformer, which reduced 115-volt house current to 12 volts. Because of the small bulb, the entire lamp could be made smaller with a light-directing shade.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Interest in Tiny Lamp Rises". The New York Times. March 21, 1964. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  2. ^ "Tensor lamp inventor dies". United Press International. July 5, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  3. ^ Ingersoll, John H. (January 1965). "Big Light in a Little Package". Popular Science. Vol. 151, no. 1. Bonnier Corporation. p. 151. ISSN 0161-7370 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Those little high-intensity lamps". Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Vol. 19, no. 6. Kiplinger Washington Editors. June 1965. pp. 35–36. ISSN 1528-9729 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ a b Martin, Douglas (July 2, 2007). "Jay Monroe, 80, Engineer Who Invented Tensor Lamp, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
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