Light's Diamond Jubilee

The post from "goodmamj" is incorrect. This documentary was indeed titled "Light's Diamond Jubilee," not "Light's Golden Jubilee." I can explain why she was confused by the title.

Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb in 1879. This 1954 documentary was titled "Light's Diamond Jubilee" for the 75th anniversary of the electric light.

Twenty-five years earlier, there had been a prior worldwide celebration termed "Light's Golden Jubilee" to celebrate light's 50th anniversary. In 1929, Edward L. Bernays coordinated the nearly year-long worldwide golden observance of Edison's great technological feat. His efforts were backed by General Electric Corporation.

My understanding of this film was that it was actually entitled Light's Golden Jubilee. It was part of an unprecedented nation-wide public relations event, put on by General Electric, and created by Edward Bernaise (widely considered throughout the field to be a sort of co-founder-- preceded by Ivy Lee-- of PR). The word "golden" was to be used to conjure up notions of wealth and prosperity in the minds of Americans.

And no, I don't watch this sort of thing for fun. I was in a PR class. I give it an 8 because it was well-made, and the event was a pretty big deal.