New Production Vintage Incandescent Light Bulbs

[Chetlaham]

Christmas came early this year, and, a dream come true on top of that. I found new production vintage light bulbs in new prodcution vintage style packaging. The bulbs appear to be for the Canadian market, made in China, however they are built to quality specs. 

 

 

The sockets are brass and the soldiering is good. The frosting is very thick, you can not really see the filament but as best as I can tell it is supported at about a half dozen points. 

 

The best part? The light is like that of a standard 1000-2000 hour vintage lightbulb. Golden white, not the dim orange/yellow glow of rough service bulbs before the ceased being sold in the US. No glare with great light diffusion. 

 

One thing I did notice the bulb might actually be 75 or 60 watts instead of the listed 100 watts, though that is not really an issue because I am craving any type of incandescent wattage at this point.

 

The packaging is nearly identical to how I remember it in the 90s. Same look and feel. The paper might be thinner than the past, but the rest is still there.

 

If everyone were like me these same bulbs would still be available and sold in the US and of the same build quality. 

 

 

This style of packing is btw my absolute favorite followed by GE packing of the 90s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cfz2882]

cool!

That Philips packaging looks kinda ~ 1986,about when Philips took over Westinghouse bulbs After first liking them,i now hate most LEDs and have swapped back to incandescent and even CFLs in some applications...As bad as indoor LEDs often are,I really hate the wanton misuse and misapplication of outdoor and roadway LEDs :HPS is dramaticly superior for that purpose and low pressure sodium is the ultimate for proper roadway lighting.Later I will make a post reaming foul and unsafe LED roadway lighting-amazing how they install lights that blind the driver yet fail to provide effective lighting of the areas they are supposed to light... Check out Soft lights foundation if you are not a fan of bad lightig technology...

 

[Chetlaham]

I agree. The packaging is straight from the past, down to the way its folded and glued together. I love it. 

 

Modern LED roadways lights are hit or miss, and some are down right ugly or horrible. Bullets of light the hurt the eyes, pollute the sky but can't light the road. Awful.

 

 

Is this them?

 

Soft Lights Foundation

 

 

One thing I have long fantasized about is mixed/blended street lighting as impractical as some might consider it. With a gentle phosphorus coating the light would be so warm and beautiful IMO.

 

 

 

 

In my opinion the best incandescent bulbs ever made were those Philips brand bulbs from the mid 90s to the very early 2000s. Best socket, best light, best durability, best life; across all the variants they offered. What took their place was junk. I never liked how Sylvania and GE had wobbly filaments that sagged. By the time the light bulb ban came into effect quality dropped to the point the soldier at the bast would soften and melt while the bulbs were running their socket.

 

 

 

 

 

[combo52]

Household, incandescent, lightbulbs

Hi Chet you wouldn’t of been too happy with me two weeks ago when I was helping that guy clean out the house where all the KitchenAid mixers came out I filled up a 30 gallon trashcan and another half of another with brand new incandescent light bulbs lots of Sylvania, GE and Phillips bulbs. The guy hoarded everything rather than donate them and perpetuate climate destruction. They were better off going into a crusher which they did.

Last summer cleaning out a neighbor’s house who is another hoarder we filled up several 20 gallon trash cans with brand new incandescent lightbulbs. I personally was there when the trash truck picked them up the trash man said these all bad I said yup it made a neat noise when they crushed them in the truck.

John L

 

[cfz2882]

Yep,that is softlights foundation-i found them while looking to see if anybody else had noticed how bad LED lighting is...I reflex-buy any vintage bulbs when i see them-some are probably collectable. Up through early 2000s still original Dutch Philips as far as i know.The two 1982 18w low pressure sodium lamps in my backyard have Norelco Philips bulbs.

 

[Chetlaham]

John, and that is precisely why the world needs to continue manufacturing vintage products. While you have the right to dispose of new old stock, I have the right to purchase brand new bulbs and appliances built to vintage standards for my home. The market is there and I am happy about that.

 

 

Brendan, I have a soft spot for SOX lamps. I remember back in the day Advance ballasts offered a 480 volt reactor ballast that could drive IIRC a 55 watt or 90 watt SOX lamp. Such would be perfect for street lighting. My understanding is that in Europe SOX bulbs require an igniter. In the US it was done via a high open circuit voltage so less that could fail. Capacitors and igniters go bad, but a simple reactor or HX auto transformer ballast when built to run cool lasts and lasts and lasts. SOX lamps cut through fog and rival LED efficiency, if not more efficient,  so I'll never understand all the hate the SOX lamps get. Plus SOX lamps don't have all the toxic stuff in them like LED and HID. 

 

 

 

 

 

[cfz2882]

SOX lamps

Noticed US navy ships use SOX lighting for the "weather decks". The SOX lamps i have just have the simple reactor.Since SOX lamp are "real"yellow light,bug attraction is low-quite unlike most LED "bug" lights that are usually badly filterd "white"LED light:tried GE and bugs flocked right to those,they faded to white light right away.Philips is also bad about their "colored"LEDs being color filtered white source.While Feit is usually proper chip color,sometimes phosphor-doped silicone coating over the chips.

 

[Chetlaham]

Oh, don't get me started on all the ugly color deviations of LEDs. 

 

 

Right now my typing lamp is using a 75 watt Newcandescent lightbulb. Good bulbs, except the lack of fuse wire in the base gives me qualms about bulb end of service. Unlike their 100 watt versions which are uber under driven yellow/orange, this bulb for being rated 130 volts at 8-10,000 hours emits a warm white closer to a 60 watt 1,500 hour 120 volt bulb. I love it. For reading and tasks I need a well driven incandescent bulb like in the old days. I have a stash of various GE Mexico and GE Hungarian 60 watt light bulbs from the late 2000s / early 2010s along with a stash of long life and rough service bulbs from a variety of manufacturers including chromalux, Philips, Sylvania, Feit, Decade, Newcandscent, Satco, Bulbrite, Ace Hardware brand, and various cheap Chinese knock offs.

 

 

I also bought some Sylvania, Philips and GE halogen capsule equivalent bulbs just for the history aspect, and the fact I thought that the HID looking capsule looked really cool.

 

 

Right now I am looking toward the foreign markets (like Mexico) where incandescent bulbs have not been banned. It seems they still get to enjoy 1000 and 2000 hour light bulbs at rated voltage of manufacturing sane quality.   

 

 

Speaking of bug lamps I have strong admiration for those Mexican made yellow GE bug lights as well as the Westinghouse versions from the 70/80s. Just something about their light and long life I miss. 

 

[cfz2882]

old Euro bulbs

About 15 years ago,bought a box of 220v European light bulbs at a flea market:different brands from Poland,Hungary,Germany.Most had same edison base as US bulbs,some had the same double contact bayonet base as SOX lamps.Candlelight glow running on 115v power

 

[philcobendixduo]

I recently changed....

......all the the CFL and incandescent bulbs in my house to LED and I'm very happy with them.
I bought mostly FEIT brand at Costco both 60 watt equivalent and 100 watt - both with 5 position color temperature selector.
I set them all on the warmest setting with the exception of those in the garage door opener.
I was even able to purchase 3 way LED bulbs for those lamps with 3 way switches.
The biggest challenge were the quartz halogen lamps with the tiny bulbs.
I did find LED replacements for those but parts of the lamp like the reflector and/or the cover glass had to be left off in order for the LED replacement to fit.
Lots of light for WAY less watts and less heat - works for me!

 

[cfz2882]

my indoor lighting mix...

...is about 50% LED,mostly older~2009-12 era because i bought a bunch then and also newer LEDs i have tried failed or dimmed out...Better ones include some LGs installed in ceiling cans that have been good but do have a subtle flicker.Some 3Ms from about 2011-120hz flicker can seen in a fan,Several GEs from about 2009-12: a sizzling sound can be heard if you are close to the bulb.Some Philips t8 LED retrofit tubes that i like in the basement because they work in cold basement in winter.Feit is also good. The other 50% is incandescent and mag ballast t12 florescent.Some E-ballasts and LEDs spew nasty EMI into the wiring and air...

 

[cadman]

Very interesting! Lots of folks (myself included) have been disappointed with LEDs to the point that there's a very lucrative market for NOS incandescents.

The Restores I frequent have figured this out and jacked prices accordingly. Ebay is even worse (ex. a 4pk of GE Reveal 100w sold for $31 this week as did a different 4pk of Sylvania soft whites, and these aren't outliers) I hate to sell any of my stock, but that's a pretty good ROI.

I do have a couple Feit LEDs in outdoor fixtures (after running comparative tests), but everything else in the house is old school for environmental reasons.

 

[good-shepherd]

all the ugly color deviations of LEDs.

Driving around my area at night I'd say half the homes and most apartments are running cold blue LED lights indoors.

Not to mention the homes lit up like a night game at Yankee stadium from dusk to dawn.

 

[cfz2882]

Feit LEDs

I have a couple Feit bulbs that are supposed to look like ~ 1910 bulbs in porch lights and i like these:color and appearance are good and they have been installed since 2014.Feit also has some antique style tungsten filament bulbs that are really close to a real~1910 GE Mazda bulb-bought several dozen of these

 

[maytag85]

LED lights emit blue light which isn’t good, that’s why it’s can be a bit tricky to put the devices down before bed. Meanwhile, incandescents emit red light which is what the sun gives off, possibly might explain why everyone is tired these days since the brain won’t slow down which results in no sleep.

 

[Chetlaham]

I did the same, I have boxes of Sylvania military surplus 230 volt bulbs in the attic. Snatched up a few 277 volt bulbs when they were still being offered new despite being obscure even at the time. 230 volt bulbs on 120 last forever, they make the best nightlights. 

 

 

To be clear, I am not 100% against LED. I have LED in the recessed can lights, outdoors and in the ceiling fixtures. But for work and reading I have to have incandescence. It is easier on the eyes and helps to reduce the number of migraines that I have. That and incandescent is warm, beautiful light. 

 

[askolover]

I like warm white LED bulbs. I really don't notice any difference in the light quality and I can use brighter bulbs without the heat of incandescent bulbs.

 

[tolivac]

My house is equipped with the warm color LED lights. Like these better than the blue tint LED lights.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well I have a pair of cool white LED bulbs in this lamp...

The house across the street has a white LED in a lamp that's on nightly at the window, I stayed at a motel 6 which not to my surprise had an all cool white LED set up in the room I stayed at...

And that was a lot more noticeable than any other hotel/motel/lodging I can't quite as recall being illuminated by stark white utility room lighting as much as any other place, given the way I kept hearing a barking dog that was allowed to stay in a room nearby me, had a well-equipped game room, but only offered coffee for breakfast, nothing to eat, and I had to get soap, shampoo and hair conditioner out of a vending machine, which would have otherwise come in my "not so sweet suite"...

But I think I want to go back to my original incandescent bulbs that are safely put away... Often these bu,bs don't like dimming, vs. the others mentioned that stay on steady-bright...

Maybe I'll find a two-light fixture that they can go in, when what's there burns out!

-- Dave[this post was last edited: 5/10/2025-23:16]