Why is it called “Ilyich’s light bulb”?

In Soviet and post-Soviet literature, newspapers, and magazines, you can often find such a concept as “Ilyich’s light bulb.” What does it refer to, what does it mean, and did Vladimir Ilyich Lenin invent some kind of “his own” special light bulb? Let's remove the veil of obscurity from this issue.

What is the “Ilyich light bulb”

In fact, Vladimir Ilyich, although he was a major political figure and had certain knowledge in various fields of science, never invented his own light bulb. Since the times of the USSR, “Ilyich’s light bulb” has been a name given to a standard incandescent lamp used without a lampshade, lampshade or other “bourgeois excesses”. Such a lamp is designed to fulfill its main purpose - to shine.

Reference. As we remember from the school physics course, the principle of operation of an incandescent lamp is very simple: an electric current passes through a tungsten filament placed on special “horns”, the tungsten becomes very hot and gives off a glow. The entire process takes place in a vacuum. At the same time, even light thermal radiation can be felt from the incandescent element.

Why is the light bulb called that?

In order to understand the history of such an extraordinary name for an ordinary lighting device, let's travel to a small village called Kashino, in 1920.Socialism was gaining momentum, and even localities such as Kashino tried to keep up with the overall strategy of economic development. There was no electricity in the village, but enterprising villagers decided to organize a rural power station before V.I. Lenin’s arrival.

Interesting! It was decided to use a network of old telegraph wires as wiring.

No sooner said than done, and by November 14, 1920, when Lenin set foot on the territory of Kashino, the station was ready. It is worth noting that the villagers themselves found the funds to equip the station: the money was allocated from the agricultural partnership, and local residents allocated their own free time for the construction. The dynamo was delivered to the villagers from Moscow. The events in Kashino received wide publicity thanks to the media, and soon information about the electrification of remote villages spread throughout the USSR.

Interesting! A small “saying” even appeared in the vocabulary of Soviet citizens: “There was a smokehouse and a candle - now Ilyich’s lamp.” This phrase was published in one of the Soviet magazines of that time.

Some time after the visit of the people’s leader, a museum was even organized in Kashino, which, however, was abandoned and plundered in the mid-“wild nineties.” Unfortunately, there were no people willing to revive the cultural heritage of the settlement. However, the memorable event remained “living” in the form of a short story printed on the pages of Soviet children's literature.

Looking at this event now, many see in it exclusively the propaganda sentiments of the authorities of that time. The concept of “Ilyich lamp” even acquired an ironic and negative connotation and began to express a hastily solved problem of lighting in a residential or office space.However, there is some justice in this regard: even by 1980, a huge number of settlements in rural areas were not electrified.

Interesting! There were no wall switches at the disposal of the villagers who were installing electricity into their homes for the first time. The switch itself was located on the surface of the socket, and the wiring was an ordinary two-core twisted wire with rubber insulation. The wire was attached to the wall using porcelain insulators, also called “rollers.” However, for rural residents, many of whom had not seen electric light sources since birth, this was more than enough.

Today, the concept of “Ilyich light bulb” most often means any incandescent lamp hanging freely from the ceiling. It is noteworthy that this concept is used mainly only by residents of the former USSR. To the modern average person, accustomed to an abundance of lighting fixtures of all varieties and colors, such laconicism in lighting may seem trivial. Nevertheless, the device still performs its main function.