The dry cell was invented in 1867 by George Leclanche. It was a carbon zinc cell. In 1879 Thomas Edison perfected the incan bulb using a carbon filament. In 1896 Harry Anderson built D size casings 3" long. In 1898 David Missel built D cell length casings (3.25") so that 3 could fit in his new invention. In 1899 Conrad Hubert invented the C cell.
In 1882 John Morton applied for a patent for the first portable electric light, a lantern that used wet cell technology.
Alfred and Alexander Roovers received a patent for an electric cane in 1991.
The scarf pin was likely the first flashlight circa 1894 but fueled by wet cell battery tech made it pretty impractical. Ohio Electric works sold flashing necktie pins and bicycle lights in 1895. In 1899 they had a portable pocket light, but the battery weighed 4 pounds!!
It was the dry cell that paved the way for somebody to invent a shortened version of the electric cane into hand held format. David Missel with the help of Gustave F. Hitleberger in 1895 started the idea and had a working prototype in 1898 when David applied for a patent with Conrad Hubert as witness.
But they were called flashlights because the carbon filament only lasted short periods before popping. The user would turn the light on briefly and turn it off before the bulb blew. In 1910 when the tungston filament was invented things began to take hold for those novelty electric fire on a stick.
David Missel's and other early flashlights like "Matchless", "Yankee Searchlight" "Reliable and others were basically cardboard tubes wrapped in leather. The battery of the day leaked badly. So most lights of that era are long gone. I've seen some early, early, early flashlights like a cane light go for as high as $15,000 but in rough shape around $3,000-5000.
Rayovac did a 100 year anniverssary light in 2014 that was LED with various markings and stampings from verious periods prior to WW2.
