Lighting before electricity featured at Pasto Ag Museum open house Sunday 11/25 1 to 4 pm

Posted: November 1, 2012

The last in a series of Sunday 2012 open houses at Penn State's Pasto Agricultural Museum during home football weekends this fall will focus on the history of lighting before the advent of electricity. The event is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 25. In today's modern society, we take electrical lighting for granted, and most seldom consider how the development of lighting technology provided an opportunity for people to read and work at night, and to extend working hours in a day, noted Rita Graef, Pasto Museum curator. "This would have been especially important in agricultural communities, where families spent all day tending crops, taking care of livestock or working in cottage industries," … "Come to the Pasto Museum Nov. 25 and experience the soft glow of early lighting from the candle and kerosene lamp era," Graef said. "Our featured guest will be Rudolph Hershey from Dover. For more than 35 years, he has been collecting early lighting and antiques, with many from the 1860 to 1930 period."… Visitors at the event also can make a pair of Colonial-era wax candles to take home. And to celebrate the success of the 2012 fall open house series, guests will be offered Penn State Berkey Creamery ice cream while supplies last.

Rushlights are miniature torches formed by soaking the dried pith of the rush plant in fat or grease. Commonly used for several centuries, they were extremely inexpensive to make. They had a temporary revival during World War II.