The photographs were taken with a Casio QV4000 Digital Camera and are Copyright to Rauleigh Webb.
Information on Bicycle lamps from "Early Vehicle Lighting" by Peter W. Card
"In 1897 the American Badger Brass Company advertised the first successful acetylene gas bicycle lamp, called the 'Solar'. The discovery in 1982 of the electric furnace method of producing calcium carbide , by the Canadians Willson and Moorehad, led to demonstrations showing that the immersion of calcium carbide in water produced acetylene gas, which, in turn, gave a brilliant white light when lit.
Various attempts were made to copy the successful 'Solar' bit it was not until 1898 that the first commercially available British lamp appreared , Lucas's 'Acetylator'. Other manufacturers quickly followed suit and by 1905 there was a huge variety of acetylene lamps available to complement the many oil and kerosene examples."
