Featured Topics

Rare Earths

47 items

This digital collection features materials related to rare earth elements, a group of 17 elements composed of scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides. These abundant elements, characterized by similar geochemical and magnetic properties, are mined for a variety of uses including magnets, alloys, glasses, and electronics. The diverse collection of materials found below demonstrates the range of uses for rare earths throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Browse the topic to find materials related to fine art, lasers, cathode ray tube televisions, the first incandescent lights, and more!

4 items
Artifacts

Mine Vessel
- 2022
An erbium and glass cast of Mountain Pass Mine by artist, Anna Mlasowsky (1984- ). The Mountain Pass Mine is an open-pit mine of rare-earth elements on the south flank of the Clark Mountain Range in California. In 2020…
- Artist Mlasowsky, Anna, 1984-
- Subject Glass art, Erbium, Rare earths, Mlasowsky, Anna, 1984-, Rare earth industry
Artifacts

Welsbach Tip Tray
- 1920s
A single-sided tin lithograph tip tray. This circular green plate features a scene of a seated woman reading a newspaper with a child playing at her feet. The child has spelled out "WELSBACH" using toys on the floor. A…
- Creator Of Work Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Subject Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Welsbach Gas Light Company, Gas-lighting, Rare earths, Lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting, Rare earth industry
Postage stamps

First Day Cover commemorating Xu Guangxian
- 2009-Nov-07
Cachet, postmark, and stamp depicting rare earth chemist Xu Guangxian (1920-2015). Xu, also known as Kwang-hsien Hsu, was a Chinese chemist who held various positions in the Department of Chemistry at Peking University.…
- Subject Xu, Guangxian, Rare earths, Chemists, Cachets (Philately), Commemorative postage stamps, Science on postage stamps, Postmarks, China
2 items
Manuscripts

Anomale Dispersion bei Alkalihalogenid phosphoren
- Anomalous Dispersion in Alkali Halide Phosphors
- 1927
Draft of a paper written by Max Albert Bredig (1902-1977) titled Über anomale Dispersion in Alkalihalogenidphosphorenpublished in Zeitschrift für Physik volume 46 (1927).
- Creator Of Work Bredig, Max Albert, 1902-1977
- Subject Phosphors, Bredig, Max Albert, 1902-1977, Science publishing
Advertisements

Fishing with a Green Laser
- 1969
Color print advertisement for Sylvania General Telephone and Electronics Company depicting the trajectory of green laser lights reflecting off of a school of fish. The advertisement text describes the company's…
- Creator Of Work GTE Sylvania Incorporated
- Subject Nd-YAG lasers, Lasers, GTE Sylvania Incorporated, Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., Rare earths, Electrooptics, Solid-state lasers
Advertisements

Rare-earth magnets: Making their strong attraction more attractive.
- 1978
Color advertisement for the General Motor Research Laboratories. The advertisement includes three graphics: an artistic rendering of a motor or magnet cross-section, a photograph of a curved pole magnet, and a graph…
- Creator Of Work General Motors Corporation
- Contributor General Motors Corporation. Research Laboratories
- Subject General Motors Corporation, General Motors Corporation. Research Laboratories, Rare earths, Rare earth metals--Magnetic properties, Magnets, Magnetism, Electric motors, Automobiles--Motors
Advertisements

Rare earths for better magnets
- 1970
Color print advertisement from the Research and Development Unit of Bell Laboratories. A cartoon image of a large magnet attracting a steam locomotive car, lifting it from the ground, occupies the upper half of the…
- Creator Of Work Bell Telephone Laboratories
- Subject Bell Telephone Laboratories, Magnets, Rare earths, Rare earth metals--Magnetic properties, Magnetism, Nesbitt, E. A., Magnetic fields, Materials science, Electrical engineering
Advertisements

On Stream! New process makes rare earths available at lower cost
- 1965
Black and white print advertisement for the Molybdenum Corporation of America, known today as Molycorp, Inc. The advertisement includes an image of Molycorp's mining plant in Mountain Pass, California, with a smaller…
- Creator Of Work Molybdenum Corp. of America
- Subject Molybdenum, Molybdenum ores, Molybdenum Corp. of America, Rare earth metals, Rare earth industry, Mines and mineral resources, Mineral industries
Advertisements

We crucible tested over 50,000 phosphors last year. Any one of them might solve a problem for you.
- 1967
Black and white print advertisement for Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. The advertisement features images of a picture tube, a solid-state electroluminescent display, and a larger image of several picture tube screens…
- Creator Of Work GTE Sylvania Incorporated
- Subject GTE Sylvania Incorporated, Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., Rare earths, Television--Receivers and reception, Television picture tubes, Rare earth phosphates, Europium, Cathode ray tubes
Advertisements

How Can a Rose be a Rose be a Rose on Color TV?
- 1964
Color print advertisement for The Sylvania Color Bright 85 picture tube. The advertisement features an image of a picture tube next to a bouquet of roses, with one rose suspended in the center of the screen. The text…
- Creator Of Work GTE Sylvania Incorporated
- Contributor Sylvania Electric Products, Inc.
- Subject GTE Sylvania Incorporated, Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., Television--Receivers and reception, Television picture tubes, Rare earth phosphates, Europium, Rare earths, Cathode ray tubes
Advertisements

RCA rare-earth Hi-Lite Color TV Picture Tubes for every smart customer who wants a superior color picture
- 1966
Color print advertisement for RCA rare-earth Hi-Lite Color Television Picture Tubes. The advertisement includes several images of the picture tubes as well as the product packaging. The text describes RCA's Hi-Lite…
- Creator Of Work Radio Corporation of America
- Subject Radio Corporation of America, Rare earths, Television--Receivers and reception, Television picture tubes, Color television, Cathode ray tubes, Phosphors, Yttrium, Rare earth phosphates
6 items
Scientific apparatus and instruments

No. 4 Inverted Mantle with No. 8 Magnesia Ring
- 1890 – 1930
Unused Welsbach No. 4 Inverted Mantle and No. 8 Magnesia Ring in its original cardboard box from Lindsay Light and Chemical Company.

The Welsbach gas mantle is a device made of fibers impregnated with oxides of cerium…
- Creator Of Work Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Contributor Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929
- Subject Lighting--Equipment and supplies, Incandescent lamps, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Gas-lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting, Rare earth industry, Welsbach Gas Light Company, Rare earths
2 items
Publications

Erfinder und Erfindungen
- Inventors and Inventions
- 1913
Digitized content includes a frontispiece portrait of Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach (1858-1929), a key figure in the history of rare earth elements. In 1885 Welsbach showed didymium was not an element, but an…
74 items
Publications, Pamphlets

Welsbach System of Incandescent Gas Lighting Catalog
- 1889
The Welsbach company produced this pamphlet around 1889 to promote its system of gas lighting. The brochure includes a depiction of the factory in Gloucester, New Jersey, and several illustrations of lighting system…
- Creator Of Work Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Publisher Edward Stern & Co.
- Subject Incandescent lamps, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Gas-lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting, Rare earth industry, Rare earths, Welsbach Gas Light Company, Incandescent gas-lighting--Fixtures, Interior lighting, Factories
47 items
Photographs, Postcards

Set of Postcards depicting the Welsbach Factory in Gloucester, New Jersey
- 1890 – 1930
This set of postcards depicts the scenes from the Welsbach Incandescent Gas Lighting Company factory at Gloucester, New Jersey. Originally a set of 46 postcards, this collection is missing cards number 20 and 31. The…
- Contributor Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Subject Welsbach Gas Light Company, Employees, Incandescent gas-lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting--Fixtures, Lighting, Rare earth industry, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Women employees, Rare earths, Machinery in the workplace, Machinery
Advertisements

Healthful Effect of Gas Light Advertisement
- 1923
Gas mantles and electric bulbs competed for the home lighting market during the first decades of the 20th century. This advertisement claimed modern gas lighting offered health benefits by ridding the atmosphere of dust…
- Contributor Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Subject Welsbach Gas Light Company, Incandescent gas-lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting--Fixtures, Advertising, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Rare earths, Rare earth industry, Gas-lighting, Interior lighting
18 items
Catalogs, Advertisements, Pamphlets

The Welsbach Light Catalog
- 1984
This is a reprint of promotional booklet produced by the Welsbach Company about the history of its light. The booklet was reprinted in 1984 by the Rushlight Club, an association of collectors and students of historic…
- Creator Of Work Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Printer Rushlight Club
- Subject Welsbach Gas Light Company, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Incandescent gas-lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting--Fixtures, Advertising, Gas-lighting, Interior lighting, Rare earth industry, Rare earths
24 items
Advertisements, Catalogs, Pamphlets

Reflex Inverted Gas Light Catalog
- 1890 – 1930
Welsbach aimed its Reflex line at the middle of the gas mantle market, priced below its Welco line but above its biggest selling models like the Number 4 mantle. Images in this catalog illustrate Welsbach's imagined…
- Creator Of Work Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Subject Welsbach Gas Light Company, Incandescent gas-lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting--Fixtures, Rare earth industry, Rare earths, Advertising, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Gas-lighting, Interior lighting, Interior lighting--Design
Advertisements

This is Too Bad, Makes Night & Day Alike!
- 1901-Sep-14
This 1901 advertisement for the British branch of the Welsbach Incandescent Gas Light Company features an owl swooping through the dark into the light of a gas mantle streetlight. The owl complains that the light makes…
- Publisher Illustrated London news
- Contributor Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Subject Welsbach Gas Light Company, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Incandescent gas-lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting--Fixtures, Gas-lighting, Street lighting, Light pollution, Lighting, Rare earth industry, Rare earth metals
2 items
Portraits, Photomechanical prints

Carl Auer von Welsbach Cigarette Trading Card
- 1890 – 1930
Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach (1858-1929) was a key figure in the history of rare earth elements. In 1885 he showed didymium was not an element, but an alloy of two elements that he named praseodymium and…
- Subject Welsbach Gas Light Company, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Trading cards, Cigarette cards, Chemists, Incandescent gas-lighting, Incandescent lamps, Rare earths, Rare earth industry
Publications, Illustrations

Figure 27. "Flashing" Room at Messrs Edison & Swan's Works
- Part of The Rare Earth Industry: Including the Manufacture of Incandescent Mantles, Pyrophoric Alloys, and Electrical Glow Lamps
- 1915
Figure 27 from the 1915 volume, The Rare Earth Industry depicting the "flashing" room of the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company. The illustration depicts scientists preparing filaments for incandescent electric glow…
Publications, Illustrations

Figure 14. Impregnating Machine [Gas mantle manufacture]
- Part of The Rare Earth Industry: Including the Manufacture of Incandescent Mantles, Pyrophoric Alloys, and Electrical Glow Lamps
- 1915
Figure 14 from the 1915 volume, The Rare Earth Industry depicting a machine (1/10 actual size) for saturating cotton and ramie webs with a solution of rare earth metals during the manufacture of gas mantles. The volume…
- Author Johnstone, Sydney J. (Sydney James), Russell, Alexander S. (Alexander Smith), b. 1888
- Publisher D. Appleton and Company
- Subject Rare earths, Rare earth industry, Incandescent gas-lighting, Scientific illustration, Scientific apparatus and instruments, Machinery
Publications, Illustrations

Figure 10. Collodion before Burning Off. Figure 11. Collodion after Burning Off. Figure 12. Washing Machine.
- Part of The Rare Earth Industry: Including the Manufacture of Incandescent Mantles, Pyrophoric Alloys, and Electrical Glow Lamps
- 1915
Figures 10 through 12 from the 1915 volume The Rare Earth Industry. Figures 10 and 11 are photomicrographs showing collodion fibers used in the manufacture of incandescent gas mantles before and after burning. The…
- Author Johnstone, Sydney J. (Sydney James), Russell, Alexander S. (Alexander Smith), b. 1888
- Publisher D. Appleton and Company
- Subject Rare earths, Rare earth industry, Radioactivity, Incandescent gas-lighting, Scientific illustration, Machinery, Collodion
Publications, Illustrations

Will-O'-The-Wisp (Phosphuretted Hydrogen and Marsh Gas)
- Part of Wonders of electricity and the elements, being a popular account of modern electrical and magnetic discoveries, magnetism and electric machines, the electric telegraph and the electric light, and the metal bases, salt, and acids
- 1870 – 1900
Black and white illustration depicting an evening marsh scene. The illustration demonstrates the natural occurrence of phosphoric compounds which become luminous in the presence of atmospheric gases. The illustration…
- Publisher Ward, Lock & Co.
- Subject Scientific illustration, Science--Study and teaching, Chemical elements, Science--Experiments, Nonmetals, Phosphors, Phosphorescence
Photographs

Exterior view of Welsbach Gas Light Company facility
- Part of Welsbach Gas Light Company photograph album
- 1920s
Photographic reproduction of an artist's rendering of the Welsbach Gas Light Company site located along the Delaware River in Gloucester City, New Jersey. From 1888 to 1940, the Welsbach Gas Light Company held…
- Creator Of Work Welsbach Gas Light Company
- Subject Welsbach Gas Light Company, Lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting, Incandescent gas-lighting--Fixtures, Industries, Rare earth industry

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