!conspicuous lighting!

President Hoover addresses Thomas Edison at Dearborn,Michigan October 21 on his accomplishments with the 'invention' of electric light:

(...) When Mr. Edison invented the electric lamp he may perhaps have thought just to produce plain light and more of it at less cost. I surmise that his wildest ambition was to relieve the human race from the curse of always cleaning oil lamps, scrubbing up candle drips and everlastingly carrying one or the other of them about. He may have thought to add safety to Chicago against a second accident from an oil lamp. But the electric lamp has found infinite variety of unexpected uses. It enables us to postpone our spectacles for a few years longer; it has made reading in bed infinitely more comfortable; by merely pushing a button we have introduced the element of surprise in dealing with burglars; the goblins that lived in dark corners and under the bed have now been driven to the outdoors; evil deeds which inhabit the dark have been driven back into the farthest retreats of the night; it enables the doctor to peer into the recesses of our insides; it substitutes for the hot-water bottle in aches and pains; it enables our cities and towns to clothe themselves in gaiety by night, no matter how sad their appearance may be by day. And by all its multiple uses it has lengthened the hours of our active lives, decreased our fears, replaced the dark with good cheer, increased our safety, decreased our toil and enabled us to read the type in the telephone book. It has become the friend of man and child(...)


1 . I've made my plans for summer . Words and music by John Philip Sousa. (c1907)



2. Bird's eye view of Luna Park, Coney Island N. Y. (ca. 190-)



3. Luna Park, New York City. (1910)
4.The new Coney Island--night views of Dreamland and Luna Park (1904)



6.Night in Luna Park, Coney Island, N.Y. (1905)



7.Main Tower Luna Park. (1908)



8.The towers of Luna at night. (1908)



9 .The Electric Towers at night, Luna Park Coney Island, N.Y. (1903)



10.Night View of Court (1908)



11. One of the attractions of New York's most popular pleasure resort - electrical display at Luna Park, Coney Island, N.Y. (c1906)




12. Luna Park at night, Coney Island, New York's great pleasure resort. (c1903)