Having It Both Ways

Era: 1890 - 1925

Related Styles: Gas Style

In the early 1900s, gas and electric interests fought tooth and nail for the lighting market.

As gas was cheap but imperfect, and electricity clean but sometimes unreliable, many folks hedged their bets with Gas/Electric lighting like the Mock's Crest and Astoria - newfangled "combination" fixtures which used both technologies.

Instead of being caught in the middle, the fixture-buying public won out with a creative marriage of old and new technology, proving that you can have it both ways.