Jewish Invention Myths: The Flashlight/Torch
Now that I’ve researched and written numerous articles on alleged jewish inventions/innovations that were in fact nothing of the kind. I have noticed certain commonalities in particular how jews are often credited for the work of non-jews or the earlier work of non-jews is simply ignored. In the case of the invention of the Flashlight (or Torch if you are British) then somewhat unusually both are true at the same time.
Let’s begin as we always do with the jewish claim.
Aish writes that:
‘FROM OUT OF THE DARK. THE FLASHLIGHT: CONRAD HUBERT (1855-1928)
The son of Russian-Jewish wine distillers, (born Akiba Horowitz, 1855–1928) he arrived in New York in 1891. As a youngster he attended Hebrew school, then became a partner in his dad’s business. Deciding to come to America, he passed through Ellis Island in 1891 and tried his hand at several enterprises. In the 1890s, one major interest was the development of what we know today as the flashlight (patent (No. 617,592). He turned his American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company, into the Ever Ready Company famous for its batteries. The Russian immigrant who came with nothing, became a multi-millionaire after seeing the light.’ (1)
This is superficially plausible as even the battery company ‘Energizer’ seems to endorse it. (2)
The problem of course is that it is complete hogwash.
As Mary Bellis writes at ‘Thought Co’:
‘A flashlight by definition is a small, portable lamp usually powered by batteries. While Conrad Hubert might have known the flashlight was a bright idea, it was not his. British inventor David Misell, who was living in New York, patented the original flashlight and sold those patent rights to the Eveready Battery Company.
Conrad Hubert first met Misell in 1897. Impressed with his work, Hubert purchased all of Misell's previous patents related to lighting, Misell's workshop, and his then-unfinished invention, the tubular flashlight.
Misell's patent was issued on January 10, 1899. His portable light was designed in the now familiar tube-shape and used three D batteries placed in a line, with a lightbulb at one end of the tube.’ (3)
Bellis’ assertion that it was the Englishman David Misell who created the flashlight which is attributed to Conrad Hubert (nee Akiba Horowitz) is backed up both by Misell’s patent application from 1899 (4) and the official ‘Flashlight Museum’s’ commentary on the subject. (5) This is more than enough to exclude Hubert from any credit whatsoever for the invention of the flashlight or torch.
There is more; however, the ‘Patent Plaques’ blog gives us a detailed description of the inventions surrounding the invention of the flashlight which enriches our understanding of how Hubert stole credit from not only David Misell but the original founder of the ‘Ever Ready’ company Joshua Cowan.
They write how Cowan sold his company as well as his intellectual property to Hubert and how Hubert brought Misell in to help Cowan sort out the problems with his idea (the Flashlight) and turn it from idea into a prototype and then into a viable product.
To wit:
‘Hubert employed fellow inventor, David Misell in his company to help adapt his newly acquired ideas and patents from Cowen. Misell had patented a portable electronic lamp in 1895 and a early bicycle head lamp in 1896. Hubert and Misell took Cowen’s light up pot idea and altered it into the first flashlight. The first flashlights, in 1898, were handmade from crude paper and fiber tubes, with a bulb and a rough brass refractor. Many called it an electric hand torch. Misell patented several of his flashlights and they were granted to Hubert’s company. He was granted US patent 617,592 on January 10, 1899 for an “electrical device.” The first practical and modern prototype of a flashlight had been invented. Later, Hubert received US patent 737,107 on August 25, 1903 for an “electric-circuit closer.”’
Misell and Cowen assembled some flashlights and gave them to New York City policemen to gain recognition for the invention. The testimonials created a great marketing strategy and the flashlight became a “must have” item. In 1899, a year after the invention of the flashlight, the biblical quote of “Let There Be Light” was used on the cover of the Eveready catalog to continue advertising the flashlight.’ (6)
This interpretation is also supported by Mary Bellis in her article on the invention of the flashlight at ‘The Inventors’ (7) and we can see from it that the general consensus is that Conrad Hubert not only received the credit for ‘inventing’ the flashlight which should have been rightly credited to David Misell but also the credit going to Misell’s co-creator and also the man who came up with the idea: Joshua Cowan.
Therefore, we can say absolutely that Conrad Hubert didn’t invent the flashlight/torch but rather David Misell did, and Joshua Cowan came up with the idea originally.
Scratch another jewish invention myth!
References
(1) https://aish.com/we-jews-little-known-jewish-inventions/
(2) https://www.energizer.com/about-flashlights/flashlight-history
(3) https://www.thoughtco.com/invention-of-the-flashlight-1991794
(4) https://patents.google.com/patent/US617592A/en
(5) https://www.wordcraft.net/flashlight.html
(6) http://patentplaques-blog.com/invention-of-the-flashlight/
(7) https://theinventors.org/library/inventors/blflashlight.htm