On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 23:45:03 EDT, [log in to unmask] wrote:

>Hey was this project the old edison Labs in South orange????

yes, well, West Orange, and now the Edison National Historic Site -- we
disassembled in Detroit, his favorite little barn with small personal
labspace in the shed, which Henry Ford had collected after Edison's death
from West Orange as a souvenier, and we reconstructed it in its approximate
original location in the courtyard in West Orange...

story is, that when it got crazy over in the big lab building, he would
retreat to the little one out there for some peace and quiet -- kinda like
the way the old man has a workshop in the garage to get away from the old
lady or something...

further work now in phase 2 will renovate the whole site, pretty much

>loved that place; love the history on this guy what was the story about his
>fight with Westing House over A./C vs D/C is this why we have 110 today ???
>Didn't  Thomas Alva invent the electric chair

don't know the answer to these questions, think yes on the chair though...
drew, rudy, ken, jim?

>Didnt he build some of the first concrete houses (fireproof)???I think he
>also had his own cement too.

yes on both counts; he standardized portland cement for use in factory and
house construction, and for roads to facilitate the sales of his friend
Henry Ford's products
he invented the modern reusable concrete form, and there are still a bunch
of his buildings in commercial use adjacent to the ENHSite...

>I know he made the fist film the great train robbery; but did he not dabble
>in the viewscopes with the naughty pictures  that pre date motion pictures
>that gave 42 st a bad rap????

also don't know about his porn career, he made a movie about a boxer very
early on, that we watched in the visitor center... there is a replica of
the first movie studio, the black maria, onsite -- it predates electric
lights and was built on a streetcar roundhouse trestle so that it could be
turned as the day went along to follow the sunlight coming in for filming...

> and the last question is where is he buried ?
> South Orange???

nope, he's buried in West Orange, alongside his wife in the backyard of
their estate, Glenmont, up in the first planned unit development, Llewellyn
Park...
we moved and re-erected on either side of the graves, granite funeral
lanterns that were gifts of the Japanese emperor... pix on the website
at:   http://www.nps.gov/edis/home.htm

he had an estate in Florida, where he maintained a tropical garden of
exotic plants collected from all over that he used for materials
experiments; ever run across it in your travels? it's being renovated too...

deb

PS   hey pyrate, did you all know that Sept 19th is National Talk Like a
Pyrate Day?
www.talklikeapirate.com  for details and a crash course in pyrate lingo...

arrrr mateys! start practicing now, so you won't sound ridiculous when the
day comes!  oops, too late, but what the heck   ;)

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