overall: 13.5 cm x 5.5 cm x .375 cm; 5 5/16 in x 2 3/16 in x 1/8 in
reflector: 5 cm; 1 15/16 in
Object Name:
reflector
Date made:
ca 1935
Description:
Reflectors are small fixtures that outline vehicles, signs, and road surfaces and help prevent collisions at night. In the mid-1920s, Jonathan Cass Stimson, a St. Louis inventor, patented an improved “central triple reflector” with angled, cube-shaped cells that reflect light rays back to their source regardless of direction. He formed two companies to manufacture reflectors of this type and sold them to many customers, including General Motors, Ford, and other automobile manufacturers. His early reflectors were made of glass, but he made the transition to plastic and coined the name Stimsonite for his plastic reflectors. Stimson reflectors were widely used on automobile tail lights, highway signs, guard rails, road flares, railroad signals and yards, airport signs, marine beacons, bicycle fenders, and other applications.
