|
|
Description:
Beautifully engraved early certificate from the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company issued in 1899. This historic document (Certificate #47) was printed by the Homer Lee Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of topless allegorical maiden holding flowers while floating over a train wheel. This item is hand signed by the company’s vice-president and treasurer and is over 101 years old.
Certificate Vignette History In the beginning, there were 200 employees at a rented plant in Pittsburgh's Garrison Alley when, on January 8, 1886, a charter was granted to the Westinghouse Electric Company. George Westinghouse and his associates already were on the way to developments that were to change the course of the nation and the world. In the Spring of 1885, Westinghouse had acquired the patent rights to a device that would "transform" the voltage of alternating current, so that electricity could be carried over long distances at high voltages, then stepped down to the proper voltage for its intended use. Some features of the device he had acquired were impractical, but in a few weeks Westinghouse and his staff worked out a complete new design. That first transformer, whose basic features have been standard ever since, was the key to the Golden Age of Electricity. On the night of March 20, 1886, in the village of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, the new transformer demonstrated the feasibility of alternating current for lighting purposes. And people began to marvel at the electric lights "that produce no odor, heat or danger of fire." But the alternating-current system had tough competition. Competitors, like Thomas Edison, who had backed the old system of direct current were firmly entrenched. And the battle of the currents was under way. By 1890, the company's annual sales totaled $4 million, and Westinghouse had installed more than 300 central power stations. The first of these went to light the city of Greensburg, in Pennsylvania. In a bold and daring move, Westinghouse won the contract to light the great Columbian Exposition, to be held in Chicago in 1893. Getting equipment ready in time was an almost impossible task, but the men and women of Westinghouse made the deadline. The dazzling spectacle of a quarter of a million lights stole the show, and paved the way for Westinghouse to get the order for three generators to harness the power of Niagara Falls. At Niagara, the Westinghouse polyphase alternating current system - based on patents acquired from Nikola Tesla - dramatically proved itself and soon ended the battle of the currents. In a short time, alternating current represented 95 percent of all electric power generated around the globe. Development of the alternating current system had numerous by-products. Tesla's induction motor opened the way for alternating current to become the workhorse of the world. One of the earliest applications of the motor was to drive a fan. Oliver Shallenberger developed a meter to measure the current and Lewis Stillwell invented a device to regulate its voltage. By 1894, it was evident that the business had outgrown the Garrison Alley facilities, and contracts were let for a machine shop, warehouse, and boiler and powerhouse along Turtle Creek in East Pittsburgh. From the beginning, the purpose of the company was to develop and market generating and distribution apparatus for the alternating current system as well as the lamps and motors and other electrical devices that would put it to work. That focus led to many innovations and a long list of "firsts" for Westinghouse. The list includes the first steam turbine for a U.S. electric utility, the first main-roll drive for a steel mill, the first geared-turbine drive for a Navy ship, and the first American-built tungsten-filament lamp, the first commercial radio station-KDKA, the first television camera tube, the first industrial atom smasher, the first long-range warning ground radar, the first atomic engine for the Nautilus submarine, the first full scale atomic power plant and the camera that broadcast man's first steps on the moon. In 1900, George Westinghouse introduced the slogan, "The Name Westinghouse is a Guarantee." Today we say, "You can be sure…if it's Westinghouse." However you say it, Westinghouse has been and will continue to be known for innovation, for quality and for technology designed to improve the welfare of mankind. Westinghouse Firsts 1886 First U.S. demonstration of the alternating current system at Great Barrington, Massachuset
| Status: For Sale |
Reference#: weselandmanc1 |
| Condition:
See Description |
Year:
See Description
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
Dealer Policies: Scripophily Policy Details
Dealer Accepts:       
|
My
Basket
