SHEDDING LIGHT ON EDISON
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In your July 26 edition is an Alex Raksin review of “They All Laughed” by Ira Flatow. In it, Flatow is quoted as writing, “It was Edison’s enormous wealth, influence and power that allowed him to create the entire system from scratch in his New Jersey laboratories . . . and influence an eager press and public into believing his bulb to be superior to all others.”
Hogwash! Very early in his experiments, Edison found that he lacked the capital to develop the electric light and the system that it required. Investors, including J. P. Morgan interests, formed the Edison Electric Light Company. This, with Edison given stock for his interest, provided the funds to develop the electric light and its necessary adjuncts: sockets, fuses, insulated wire, meters and generators, among other things.
The other stockholders were not interested in manufacturing, so Edison took this on, selling off portions of his stock to finance it. In selling stock, Edison lost control, so much so that when General Electric was formed in 1892, Edison’s name was left off, hurting him deeply. As to his “bulb” being superior, it was!
RAY PHILLIPS, STUDIO CITY
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