A folded cardboard sleeve taht would have contained an electric lamp bulb and that was manufactured by the "British Luma Co-operative Electric Lamp Society Limited" who are probably best recalled as 'Luma". The Society was an unusual joint international Co-op venture between the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Swedish CWS and the concern opened a very 'modern' style works in Hardgate Road, Glasgow, in 1939 - not an auspicious year for international ventures. Lamp manufacturing was a famously industry 'controlled' business with many secretative national and international cartels and price fixing agreements.

The striking factory, designed by architect Cornelius Armour and that featured a glass fronted staircase tower that was used to test lamps thus illuminating the tower, still stands although it has been many years since it was producing lamps. After a period in use as a caravan showroom it was converted to residential accomodation in 1996.

Some more pix from my recent archive trawl 😀📷 I’m really pleased with these, buried away in a negative sheet since I took them in the 80s.

The Luma Lamp factory, Linthouse, Glasgow with its magnificent tower, now re-developed and restored, but in the 1980s looking very sad.

Opened in 1938 as a light bulb factory of the Luma Co-operative Electric Lamp Society Ltd, the factory manufactured light bulbs for the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society (SCWS) for sale in Co-op shops.

Designed by Cornelius Armour, the in-house architect of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, it is ‘B’ listed and is one of the best preserved examples of Streamline Moderne / Art Deco architecture in the city. #glasgow #glasgowarchitecture #scottisharchitecture #artdeco #artdeco #streamlinemoderne #luma #lumatower #lumalamp #scws #lightbulbs #lightbulbfactory #linthouse #govan #glasgowsouthside #southsideglasgow #1930s

A couple of my archive goodies for a Sunday, the very sad- looking Art Deco Luma Lamp Building and Tower, Shieldhall Road, Linthouse, Glasgow in the 1980s. “Located in the western suburb of Linthouse, the building was constructed in 1938 as a light bulb factory and was the Glasgow headquarters of the British Luma Co-operative Electric Lamp Society Ltd, a joint venture by the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS), the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society (SCWS) and their Swedish counterpart the Swedish Co-operative Union. The Luma co-operative was a response to the controlling influence on light bulb manufacturing by the Phoebus cartel. The architecture has a similar style to the Swedish Co-operative Union's own Luma factory in Stockholm built in 1930 designed by their in-house architects. Its distinctive feature is the protruding tower which was originally used to test light bulbs beyond their design voltage for longevity. The light emitted from the testing tower lit up the surrounding area at night. During WWII testing was not allowed during the blackout and the Royal Observer Corps used it as a lookout post. The building was part of the massive Shieldhall Manufacturing Complex that used to stand in the area, and its completion was also intended as a symbol of the Empire Exhibition of that year which was held in nearby Bellahouston Park. Following the ending of light bulb manufacture at the plant the building was sold and, amongst other uses, was used as a caravan showroom before finally falling into dereliction in the 1980s. In 1993, a local housing association acquired the decaying building amid fears it would be demolished, and began the process of it restoring it and converted it into affordable housing.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luma_Tower #glasgow #glasgowlife #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowphotography #glasgowbuildings #glasgowcity #glasgowcreates #ig_glasgow #mysecretglasgow #visitglasgow #lumalamp #artdeco #linthouse