Tensor lamp
{{Infobox brand
| name = Tensor lamp
| image = Tensor lamp.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Tensor high intensity lamp prototype (ca 1959, Brass, steel, copper, plastic, glass). Kept at the Brooklyn Museum. Gift of Jay Monroe
| producttype = Small high-intensity low-voltage desk lamp
| producedby = Tensor Corporation
| country = United States
| introduced = {{start date and age|1960}}
| discontinued = {{circa}} {{end date and age|1980}}
| markets = United States
| trademarkregistrations =
| tagline =
}}
A Tensor lamp is a trademarked brand of small high-intensity low-voltage desk lamp invented by Jay Monroe.{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/21/archives/interest-in-tiny-lamps-rises-designs-multiply-for-devices-offering.html?mtrref=en.wikipedia.org&gwh=1197411A339A9CB5BBE7D53433 |title=Interest in Tiny Lamp Rises |accessdate=July 6, 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 21, 1964 |page=17 |first=Rita |last=Reif |url-access=subscription |id={{ProQuest|115722599}}}}{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2007/07/05/Tensor-lamp-inventor-dies/56571183665652/ |title=Tensor lamp inventor dies |date=July 5, 2007 |accessdate=July 6, 2018 |work=United Press International}} The lamp was mainly popular during the 1960s and 1970s.{{cite magazine |last=Ingersoll |first=John H. |date=January 1965 |title=Big Light in a Little Package |magazine=Popular Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCYDAAAAMBAJ&dq=tensor+lamp+monroe&pg=PA151 |publisher=Bonnier Corporation |page=151 |volume=151 |issue=1 |issn=0161-7370 |via=Google Books}}{{cite magazine |date=June 1965 |title=Those little high-intensity lamps |magazine=Kiplinger's Personal Finance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7P8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=tensor+lamp+monroe&pg=PA35 |publisher=Kiplinger Washington Editors |pages=35–36 |volume=19 |number=6 |issn=1528-9729 |via=Google Books}} The lamp was originally used by doctors and dentists, and later became more widely used.{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/02/nyregion/02monroe.html |title=Jay Monroe, 80, Engineer Who Invented Tensor Lamp, Dies |accessdate=July 6, 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Douglas |last=Martin |date=July 2, 2007}} The first prototype was created in 1959, and the lamp was commercialized in 1960 by the Tensor Corporation.
History
The first Tensor lamp consisted of a 12-volt automobile parking light bulb and a reflector made from a kitchen measuring cup. Monroe fixed the cup to a metal tube that was attached to a transformer, which reduced 115-volt house current to 12 volts. Because of the small bulb, the entire lamp could be made smaller with a light-directing shade. Monroe was issued a patent for his invention.{{US patent reference|number=3133703 |issue-date=1964 |inventor=Monroe, Jay |title=Desk lamp structure}}
By 1963, the lamp was sold to the general public as a decorative desk lamp for home and office, and several other manufacturers soon entered the field. Its main competitors during the 1960s were the similar-looking Lampette brand of lamps manufactured by Koch Creations,{{cite web |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/4130 |title=Lampette Reading Lamp (model E6) |work=Museum of Modern Art}} the Mobilette, a series of Italian designed lamps sold by Stiffel, and Lytegem lamp designed by Michael Lax and manufactured by Lightolier.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jul/30/guardianobituaries2 |title=Michael Lax: His kettle, lamp and cookware were design icons of the 60s |newspaper=The Guardian |date=July 29, 1999 |first=Peter Alec |last=Hall}}