Edison Bulbs Not So Bright at Auction

What Christie's auction house thought would be a bright idea connected to Thomas Edison apparently didn't illuminate any interest during a "Landmarks of Science" auction Wednesday. As we reported last week and discuss in this week's Auction Talk Radio update, a box of 23 lightbulbs the famous inventor used in court to defend his patent on the device he created failed to sell during the auction in London. The box of light bulbs was discovered in the attic of a private home in the United States in 2002, and Christie's expected the contents to fetch between 400-hundred and 600-hundred-thousand-dollars.

Among the items that did sell was Albert Einstein's first scientific essay, which brought in 344-thousand English pounds, close to the amount expected. Christie's says the scientific auction brought in one-point-three-five-million-pounds overall. (Source: IOL.com)

This auction turned out to be a pretty dim deal overall. So much for that bright idea, Edison!

(Pictured: A lamp used at the historic 1879 New Year's Eve demonstration of the Edison Lighting System in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Courtesy: The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village via the IEEE Foundation Virtual Museum.)