Another example of how things were done back before America became a disposeable society. Even the bulbs were made to last.
Misleading IMHO, a modern incandescent bulb could easily last 100 years or more by underunning it sufficiently. A 277 volt lamp worked on a 120 volt supply should last a century.
A good qaulity carbon filament lamp run at rated voltage should achieve about 2 lumens per watt. A lower qaulity and very under run carbon lamp such as a 277 volt or 300 volt lamp run at 120 volts might be only 0.1 lumens per watt.
A modern tungsten lamp will be from 10 lumens per watt up to 20 lumens per watt depending on voltage, wattage and design life.
A modern LED lamp will reach 100 lumens a watt, and 200 lumens per watt lamps now exist.
Whether 100 years ago, or more recently, most people hate buying light bulbs and complain when they have to buy another. The cost of electricity far exceeds the lamp cost, but most people worry far less about that.
Here in the UK there was a fad a few years ago for "everlasting light bulbs" these were not truly everlasting but were very long lasting. The suppliers promised to replace any failed lamps for free if the customer paid for postage.
These long lasting lamps were significantly dimmer than proper 1000 hour incandescents and required about twice the lamp wattage for a similar light. They were popular with people who could not understand the cost of the extra electricity used.
