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!
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4 items
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
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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…
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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.…
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2 items
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
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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
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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
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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6 items
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
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2 items
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…
- Author Neuburger, Albert, 1867-1943
- Publisher Ullstein GmbH
- Subject Inventors, Inventions, Scientific apparatus and instruments, Auer v. Welsbach, Carl (Auer von Welsbach), 1858-1929, Neuburger, Albert, 1867-1943, Incandescent lamps, Welsbach Gas Light Company, Rare earth industry, Rare earths, Incandescent gas-lighting
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74 items
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
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47 items
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
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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…
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18 items
The Welsbach Light Catalog
- 1896
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…
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24 items
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
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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
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2 items
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…
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Figure 27. "Flashing" Room at Messrs Edison & Swan's Works
- 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…
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Figure 14. Impregnating Machine [Gas mantle manufacture]
- 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…
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Figure 10. Collodion before Burning Off. Figure 11. Collodion after Burning Off. Figure 12. Washing Machine.
- 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…
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Will-O'-The-Wisp (Phosphuretted Hydrogen and Marsh Gas)
- 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…
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Exterior view of Welsbach Gas Light Company facility
- 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…
