When I Was A Freshman In College I Needed A Flashlight

My freshman year in college I lived in a fraternity.

One night, some of the older fraternity members took all of the freshman pledges

out to a farm for a night of fun.

The evening began with some good cheer and cold beer, followed by each of us

pledges being given a brown paper bag and taken out to a forested area on the property.

When we asked why we had been given the paper bags we were told that we were going

to catch some snipe.

The older members told us to stay where we were so that they could then go to the other side of woods, make some noise and drive

the snipe in our direction.

It turned out that the whole thing was a trick that they were playing on us.

The truth is that there is no such thing as a snipe.

I was lacking two important

things that dark night in the

woods, common sense and a flashlight.

In 1890 a man by the name of Conrad Hubert thought that something like a flashlight

would be a good idea to create and so he developed the first hand held torch.

Conrad Hubert went on to start the Eveready company which is very well known today not only for its flashlights but also for

its batteries.

Of course it is also well known for its popular Eveready Bunny as well.

Hubert's First Flashlight

Hubert's first prototype was made out of crude paper and fiber tubes which had both a

brass reflector and bulb attached.

The bulbs were constructed using a carbon filament, which were able to create just one brief flash of light when used, thus the name

flashlight was created.

The first D cell battery was introduced in 1898 by The National Carbon Company.

Shortly after their introduction flashlights made of thin aluminum and containing 2 D

cell batteries were introduced to the marketplace.

These flashlight were designed with both a plastic reflector and an incandescent bulb.

The batteries had a short life and the amount of light produced was quite limited

in comparison to today's flashlights.

A Russian immigrant, Conrad Hubert acquired a patent for his first Eveready

flashlight in 1898.

In 1906 Conrad decided to sell one half interest in his company for two hundred thousand dollars to the National Carbon

Company.

Needless to say, Conrad's hand held torch invention was well received by the public at

large.

Prior to his invention, kerosene lamps, oil lamps, candles and torches had all been used as a source of light but were dangerous due

to their open flame.

Today's modern flashlights, even after all the improvements that have been made over the

years, still consist primarily of the same parts the Conrad originally used.

Today's Flashlight

Flashlights today are either designed to use LEDS or incandescent light bulbs.

Incandescent bulbs are designed with a tungsten filament which is safely housed in a

glass bulb.

Light Emitting Diodes, or LEDS, are semiconductors, electronic elements that

emit light.

In comparison to incandescent light bulbs, LEDS are much more efficient and last a

great deal longer for the user.

Nowadays you can find LED flashlights in a wide variety of sizes and shapes.

You can find them as part of a pen or part of a key ring.

Yet others can be found being used as headlights for our vehicles or mounted onto

helmets for work or play.

And many of us find it convenient to have an LED installed on our smart phones.

I believe that Conrad Hubert would be proud and amazed at the many uses we have found for his flashlight invention in our daily lives.