How did the flashlight get its name?
When the flashlight was first invented, battery power was still in its infancy and there wasn’t a strong enough source to power the flashlight for a long period of time. Users pushed a button to literally “flash light” on the path in front of them, shining the light for just a moment. Hence, we have the name we use today—flashlight.
— EverReady in Edinburgh Dear EverReady: It’s a corruption of the word “fleshlight.” In medieval Britain it was believed that the light cast by a burning human appendage would render the bearer invisible. Burglars and poachers would dig up fresh graves, hack off the arms and legs of a corpse, then soak them in a mixture of pine tar and civet oil until they were fully cured. A properly-prepared arm would burn for about an hour, a leg for about two and a half hours– sufficient time to allow the miscreant to do his evil deeds undetected by local authorities. The ghostly blue light cast by these abominable torches led to the belief in the will o’ the wisp and other apparitions. Curiously, we still use “light on his feet” and “light-fingered,” in common speech, both of which hark back to the era of fleshlights. When battery-powered lanterns were invented, the same name was used, although over the centuries the term had evolved to “flashlight.” Proof of this is that the British still call
What sizes do flashlights come in? How are flashlights powered? • View Online Source Energizer.com – Learning Center – History of… – [Cached Version] Published on: 3/12/2006 Last Visited: 8/9/2007 In the 1890s, American Ever-Ready Company founder Conrad Hubert lit up New York City with the help of dry cell batteries and his newest invention-the electric hand torch.Hubert, a Russian immigrant, experimented with everything from electric tie tacks to electric flower pots before acquiring the patent for this first Eveready flashlight in 1898. Hubert’s first flashlights were hand-made from crude paper and fiber tubes, with a bulb and a rough brass reflector.Because batteries were weak and bulbs primitive, flashlights of the era produced only a brief flash of light-thus the name. Hubert eventually organized the Ever-Ready Battery Company and, in 1906, sold a half-interest to National Carbon Company for $200,000. … Hubert believed he finally had a name that only Eveready could use. • View
