Antique Street Lamps in Barcelona Spain

Barcelona has some amazing street light fixtures from the 19th and 20th centuries. Most of the vintage street lamps are functioning well. These old ones are made of cast iron and have such beautiful designs. Some of them are just single lamp holders while some have 3 or more. This got me interested in history of street lamps.

Street Lamps with Gas

Before the 1800s, most homes, workplaces and streets were lit by candles, oil lamps or rush lights (rush plants dried and dipped in grease or fat).

The first public street lighting was with gas (the gas was a flammable gaseous fuel made from distilling coal). It was demonstrated in Pall Mall, London on January 28th, 1807 by Frederick Albert Winsor.

In those days the lighting-up time varied according to seasons. Lamplighters would be seen with small ladders at dusk and dawn lighting or extinguishing the wicks or mantels of the street lamps.

A variation of this Arc light was used in the 1870s to light the Parisian Streets. These street lights were known as ‘Yablochkov candles’ and named after their Russian inventor Pavel Yablochokv.

Many Victorian gas lanterns are still used with latest modifications like their gas mantels replaced and converted to use electricity.

Street Lamps from Barcelona

Street Lamp

Arrival of Incandescent Lamps

A brilliant British physicist and chemist, Joseph Swann, is credited with the invention of the carbon fibre filament incandescent lamp. Incandescent light gives the warm, steady, practical and clean light. The disadvantage was that incandescent lighting wouldn’t last very long. The filaments would burn out quickly, making the lamps a costly indulgence.

In 1865 Hermann Sprengel, a German chemist invented the Sprengel pump. This pump achieved the highest vacuum possible. When this pump was applied to Swann’s glass chambers the air could be reduced to one-millionth of its normal volume, which would allow the filament to glow for hundreds of hours.

Street Lamps from Barcelona Spain

Evolution of Electric Street Lighting

Around the same time, Thomas Edison, America’s premier inventor was also working on his version creation of the electric light. Edison had the vision and succeeded in creating, producing and supplying it on a grand commercial scale.

Whilst Swann was manufacturing parts in his own home as a cottage industry, Edison was setting up electrical plants all over the world. Within a year Edison’s plants and electrical systems were powering thirteen thousand electric lights. He was an exceptional marketer and placed his products in key areas like the House of Commons to gain maximum impact and publicity.

Cantilevered street lamp that appears all along Barcelona’s most fashionable street.

Street Lamp from Barcelona

Street Lamp from Barcelona

Vintage Street Lamps from Barcelona

I showed two antique lamps in my post: The Ramblas Ramble Walk, Barcelona. One was the Font de Canaletes, located at the Ramblas, where Barça fans usually gather to celebrate. The other was the lamp hanging from a Chinese dragon. This post has some more Street Lamps in Barcelona, mostly taken as silhouette against the sky to get a clear outline against the sky.

Unusual triple globe pendants of the Carrer Feran. They are attached to the facades of buildings so as to free up space on the sidewalk. Two of them are missing in the first pic.

Street Lamp in Barcelona

There is an interesting article of 2012 which mentions: Qatar accused of counterfeiting 1000 street lamps. Spanish lighting brand Santa & Cole has launched a lawsuit accusing the state of Qatar of copying street lighting devised for Barcelona by Catalan designer Beth Galí in 1996.

The public company Ashghal from Qatar forged the “Latina” streetlamp, designed by the architect Beth Galí, and manufactured and marketed by the company Santa & Cole. Nearly 1,000 forged units were installed on Al Waab Street, the main street in Doha.

Modern street lamps Barcelona

Modern street lamps Barcelona

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