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Box for "Oreol" incandescent light bulb
Object/Artifact
A small rectangular cardboard box that originally held an incandescent light bulb (lamp), printed in an orange/amber and black scheme on buff card. One main face (first image) carries a stylized line drawing of a light bulb, the brand name "OREOL" set vertically within the bulb's outline, and the legend "MADE IN USSR" in orange at the base. One end panel (second image) is printed black with a decorative orange folk-style firebird/peacock-and-scrolls motif. Another face (third image) bears a printed black rectangle within which the bulb's specifications are handwritten in purple ink — reading approximately "127 v 100 w" (voltage and wattage) and "Cap E27/27" (an E27 screw cap), with a portion circled in red crayon/pencil. The box is worn, creased, foxed/soiled, and split along edges. It is the packaging only; whether the bulb is still inside is not evident from these views.
2025.1.124
Kept by Leopoldo Arús Gálvez.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
U.S.S.R.
Eastern Europe
Europe
"Oreol" (Ореол) brand
Fair
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez
owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
use, acquisition
U.S.S.R.
Eastern Europe
Europe
production
The Soviet electric-lamp industry was spread across many plant cities — Moscow, Saratov, Tomsk, Brest, Orel/Oryol, Lviv, Tashkent, Fryazino and others — so "USSR" alone doesn't narrow it, and several cities are plausible. The name "Oreol" (Ореол, meaning "halo/aureole") is suggestive but not conclusive. There's a real temptation to link it to the city of Oryol (Орёл), which did have a lamp/electronics plant (the Oryol radio-lamp / electronic-devices factory) — the names look and sound similar in Latin transliteration. But "Ореол" (halo) and "Орёл" (Oryol/eagle) are different Russian words, and a product brand named for the "halo" around a glowing bulb is at least as likely as a place name.