When the government (or whoever) decided to take incandescent light bulbs off the store shelves, a number of people objected. Fluorescent bulbs effected a pasty look on people, didn’t have the same range of wavelengths as natural sunlight, and were considered an unnecessary pollutant in waste disposal and a danger if broken in the home. The new alternative at the time, LEDs, were expensive, and they, too, gave off an unfamiliar light. People wanted that old warm glow of the incandescent bulbs.
Then, LED prices dropped with greater mass production, and with greater competition, they mimicked their predecessor incandescent bulbs in wavelengths, returning that part of the spectrum to the inside world of living rooms and home offices. Warm light. Now, one can buy LEDs that mimic even older-style incandescent bulbs, those with yellowish glows on filaments in bulbs more like upside down jars, some even hanging off wires to give an antique look.
And the most recent of LED lighting provides not just color changes to meet or cause moods, but also the look of gas-light or fireplace flames. Yes, we’re back to Abraham Lincoln reading by fireplace and candle and to nineteenth century street lamps flickering light over patches of cobblestone streets. Intriguing, isn’t it? We have advanced into the past in lighting technology.
Capturing past lighting in new ways makes me wonder whether or not there are other such “advances.” Sports “retro” uniforms come to mind. Not made from wool, the new blends of fabrics look very much like the old-time baseball or football team jerseys. Car makers have also engineered retro dashboards and interiors for some new models, somehow that retro look capturing the fancy of a class of buyers. And after decades in the mid-twentieth century of homes with central heating, the homes of the seventies and beyond incorporated more “fireplaces,” placed here in quotation marks because many were natural gas, propane, or even electric heaters, and not log-burning. We’re all the way back to pretending that we sit around the cave-dwellers’ open-hearth fires.
Is there a need for nostalgia? Is that what drives the antique business? Have you ever gone into a Cracker Barrel or similar restaurant to find a retro look? Obviously, the architects of the style believe the look invites customers. Amidst the clang of dishes and the noise of many conversations, one gets the feeling of eating in an old farmhouse. Restored old houses serve as similar restaurants. And now, we can look for more of those to incorporate LED lights that mimic gas flames.
We’ve come full cycle. The modernism of the late 1920s through the 1960s gave way to other styles that in turn sometimes reverted to that once “futuristic” architecture. Back and forth, from old to new and new to old, the art, architecture, and functional components of society waver between stark sleekness and overstuffed bulk. The wavering might derive from the desire to be different from one generation to the next, forcing the architectural and technological pendulums to swing between what was and what could be.
No doubt you have some style of lighting, furniture, and home you favor. You might prefer the look of fire without the actual flames, finding comfort in virtual fire, such as the hours of video of logs burning in a fireplace that you can find on YouTube. Just looking at the artificial flames allows you to have very close to the same feelings you might have with real flames, less the smoke, carbon monoxide, or ash.
Attempting to recapture the ambience of the past through modern tech’s devices might also indicate that we are in essence somewhat simple in our basic desires for a stable life un-beset by the coldness of concrete and steel, of wires and cubicles, and of stark functionalism. Sitting in a room lighted by LED “flames” provides the illusion that we can go back, can relive simpler times—as long as we have efficient and functional conveniences like “fires” we can start with an electric switch.
Then, LED prices dropped with greater mass production, and with greater competition, they mimicked their predecessor incandescent bulbs in wavelengths, returning that part of the spectrum to the inside world of living rooms and home offices. Warm light. Now, one can buy LEDs that mimic even older-style incandescent bulbs, those with yellowish glows on filaments in bulbs more like upside down jars, some even hanging off wires to give an antique look.
And the most recent of LED lighting provides not just color changes to meet or cause moods, but also the look of gas-light or fireplace flames. Yes, we’re back to Abraham Lincoln reading by fireplace and candle and to nineteenth century street lamps flickering light over patches of cobblestone streets. Intriguing, isn’t it? We have advanced into the past in lighting technology.
Capturing past lighting in new ways makes me wonder whether or not there are other such “advances.” Sports “retro” uniforms come to mind. Not made from wool, the new blends of fabrics look very much like the old-time baseball or football team jerseys. Car makers have also engineered retro dashboards and interiors for some new models, somehow that retro look capturing the fancy of a class of buyers. And after decades in the mid-twentieth century of homes with central heating, the homes of the seventies and beyond incorporated more “fireplaces,” placed here in quotation marks because many were natural gas, propane, or even electric heaters, and not log-burning. We’re all the way back to pretending that we sit around the cave-dwellers’ open-hearth fires.
Is there a need for nostalgia? Is that what drives the antique business? Have you ever gone into a Cracker Barrel or similar restaurant to find a retro look? Obviously, the architects of the style believe the look invites customers. Amidst the clang of dishes and the noise of many conversations, one gets the feeling of eating in an old farmhouse. Restored old houses serve as similar restaurants. And now, we can look for more of those to incorporate LED lights that mimic gas flames.
We’ve come full cycle. The modernism of the late 1920s through the 1960s gave way to other styles that in turn sometimes reverted to that once “futuristic” architecture. Back and forth, from old to new and new to old, the art, architecture, and functional components of society waver between stark sleekness and overstuffed bulk. The wavering might derive from the desire to be different from one generation to the next, forcing the architectural and technological pendulums to swing between what was and what could be.
No doubt you have some style of lighting, furniture, and home you favor. You might prefer the look of fire without the actual flames, finding comfort in virtual fire, such as the hours of video of logs burning in a fireplace that you can find on YouTube. Just looking at the artificial flames allows you to have very close to the same feelings you might have with real flames, less the smoke, carbon monoxide, or ash.
Attempting to recapture the ambience of the past through modern tech’s devices might also indicate that we are in essence somewhat simple in our basic desires for a stable life un-beset by the coldness of concrete and steel, of wires and cubicles, and of stark functionalism. Sitting in a room lighted by LED “flames” provides the illusion that we can go back, can relive simpler times—as long as we have efficient and functional conveniences like “fires” we can start with an electric switch.
RSS Feed