Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: drive-in light fixtures

This is topic drive-in light fixtures in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 06-17-2003, 10:04 PM:

What's up with this type of light fixture (see below)? Pretty much every drive-in that I've seen has them, but I've never seen them anywhere else. Obviously the shade is designed to keep the light directed toward the ground and away from the screen, but were these light fixtures really made specifically for drive-in use? Who was the manufacturer?

(Yeah, weird question...I know...)

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-18-2003, 01:35 AM:

We had one of those here. It's long gone (destroyed)... but was once in the middle of our electric train ride.

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 06-18-2003, 02:11 AM:

The type of fixture is called "Stationlighter" and was used in many gasoline filling stations to illuminate the gas pumps at night.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-18-2003, 07:24 AM:

Station Lighter links:

Station Lighter Photo

http://www.oldgas.com/shoptalk/99d/messages/898.html

As a stargazer living in the suburbs, I wish more businesses would be more careful in not "lighting up the skies" with their outdoor lighting. [Frown]

It's not that hard to design a lighting fixture to direct light to only where it's needed, as was done half a century ago with the "Station Lighter".

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 06-18-2003, 09:08 AM:

John:

You are amazing! I don't know how you find all those links! [Big Grin]

I knew about Stationlighter fixtures cause I am into restoring gas pumps. There's a book called "American Service Stations 1935-1943 Photo Archive" (ISBN 1-882256-27-1) which has an excellent picture of a Stationlighter fixture installed on the pump island of a small Shell station (page 37). Many gas stations used these fixtures regardless of the brand of gas being sold. They were popular because they put the light only where it was needed and many of these stations were in close proximety to residential areas.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 06-18-2003, 09:41 AM:

There is a lot of information avaiable from the International Dark-Sky Association concerning modern fixtures of this type. They are refered to as "Full Cut Off" fixtures and astronomers love them.
See....
http://www.darksky.org/

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 06-18-2003, 10:22 AM:

For what it's worth, SPECO still sells that fixture for drive-in use, or something very similar to it. I got a catalog from them earlier this year when we were looking for light fixtures to use at the drive-in. When I spoke to them on the phone, my understanding was "whatever they had in stock was all they had, and probably wouldn't be getting anymore."

They did have quite a selection of fixtures to choose from though.........

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 06-18-2003, 10:42 AM:

Many of the old Stationlighter fixtures had porcelain enamel reflectors!

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 06-18-2003, 02:11 PM:

I am old enough to remember these light fixtures. They cast a warm natural glow on the area below them.

I can remember when street lighting was incandescent also. When they were on, one could still see the stars in the sky. When mercury vapor (the blue lights) and sodium (yellow) came along, the skies vanished, around here, anyway.

I have the incandescent fixture that was on the street in front of my house. It was made by the JOSLYN company in the early 1930's. They are still in business supplying the utility companies.