The experiments Thomas Alva Edison began in the 1870s were the foundation of the design and especially the marketing of an independent system combining the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and its use for public lighting. One of a generation of inventor-entrepreneurs of the last two decades of the 19th century, Edison put a lot of effort into making his research and inventions profitable. With this in mind, he sought out major financiers like John Pierpont Morgan and Henry Ford. These associations allowed him to amass the capital he required to set up a group of companies to sell and distribute electricity and to manufacture and market the electrical equipment he developed.

Fig. 1 Street lighting by the Edison Municipal System, The Edison Electric Light Company, New York, 1887 (Avery Library Microfiche Collection, AT 4100 Ed 48 1887, Columbia University, New York)

Edison was inspired by the gas industry for the development of a lighting system that was constantly evolving and which, because the quality/price ratio was good, became accessible to a growing number of users. This approach can be compared to the large monopolies in public electricity services that developed later and that based their operations on market competition. The establishment of a powerhouse in Manhattan in 1882 was one of the first applications of this system.

Demonstrations given by Edison in Menlo Park, Charles F. Brush in Philadelphia, J.J. Wright in Toronto and by J.-A.-I. Craig in Montreal were comparable to public relations strategy. Like the world fairs in Philadelphia (1876), Paris (1881) and Chicago (1893), these demonstrations unveiled the sublime aspect of illumination, stimulating the enthusiasm of visitors and persuading them to adopt progressively these new forms of lighting.