48 Items from the Depths of History That Seem Quite Strange to Us Now

When we hear “Edison bulb,” we tend to think of hip coffee shops with large, retro-looking lightbulbs. However, the original Edison bulbs from the early 1900s looked much different than their hip, trendy ancestors. This photo of an original Edison bulb shows just how far our electrical capacities have come. 

This lightbulb is from 1914 and features a 40-watt full frosted look. Its round shape is kind of cute, even though it wouldn’t fit in most of our light fixtures today. According to the packaging, it is a 115-volt bulb, which is very similar to the common 120-volt bulbs of today. Our modern lightbulbs may be way more energy efficient, but the retro charm remains.