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100 Years and Still Burning Visited any light bulbs recently? If you happen to find yourself strolling past 4550 East Avenue in Livermore, California, stop by Station Six. There you will find the resident firemen more than happy to show off what is considered to be the oldest working lightbulb in the world -- an antique bulb with a handblown casing, which has been burning steadily since 1901. Manufactured by the Shelby Electric Company (which went out of business in the early 1900s) the bulb has a carbide, rather than tungsten, filament giving off a steady orange-yellow four-watt glow. That may not seem like much when compared to modern 60 and 100 watt bulbs. Today's bulbs, however, have an approximate life of 750 to 4,000 hours, falling considerably short of the 100 week mark, let alone 100 years. (For the insatiably curious, 100 years works out to about 873,600 hours.)
Despite efforts by other contestants throughout the years the longevity of the Centennial Bulb is not a matter of dispute. In addition to holding a revered place in the Guinness Book of World Records, this innocuous looking little bulb has been carefully researched by Ripley's Believe-It-or-Not and featured in both print and television versions of On The Road With Charles Kuralt.
The bulb was first installed in 1901 and has been burning steadily ever since as a nightlight over the fire trucks. This lack of "wear and tear" may partially explain the bulb's longevity. Over the years the bulb has remained lit with only short interruptions for occasional power outages. In 1976 the bulb had its only long respite, 23 minutes, when the fire station moved to a new location. The bulb was carried with all the respect and tenderness due a national treasure and driven to its new home to the accompaniment of sirens and flashing lights. A back-up generator now provides power to keep the bulb glowing even during rolling blackouts, and provisions for the bulb's future after its eventual demise are being discussed. An official celebration is planned for June 8, 2001, and I'm certain that many people are holding their breath between now and then. I know I would hate to be the fireman on duty when this unique piece of Americana comes to its natural, and inevitable, end. If you visit the homepage for the Centennial Bulb, you will find a working "bulb-cam" with an archive of pictures, newspaper articles, and information pertaining to the centennial celebration held in 2001. You can also find out how to purchase awesome t-shirts, posters and other memorabilia. NB: I would like to thank Tom Bramell, Deputy Fire Chief, for allowing me to share the story of the Centennial Bulb through this website. All photos of the Centennial Bulb are the property of the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Station and are reproduced here with permission. Please email or visit their website for further information.
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