Unfrosted light bulb












9















In Catch-22 there is following passage (my emphasis):




The unfrosted light bulb overhead was swinging crazily on its loose wire, and the jumbled black shadows kept swirling and bobbing chaotically, so that the entire tent seemed to be reeling.




Why is the light bulb "unfrosted"? I understand the meaning of "unfrost", but I don't understand how a light bulb can be unfrosted. Is this some metaphor?










share|improve this question


















  • 11





    It means a light bulb without a "frosted" surface, so that the glass bulb is clear and you can see the filament inside. images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/…

    – Hot Licks
    2 days ago






  • 5





    Also, I think you'd almost certainly get sharper shadows in light from an unfrosted bulb. And I'm sure we all agree that "single point light sources + sharp shadows" are far more spooky than diffuse lights and softer shadows.

    – FumbleFingers
    2 days ago






  • 13





    If you believe you understand the meaning of "unfrost", you might be wrong. "Unfrost" isn't a valid English word. There is a word "defrost" which may be what you were thinking of, but "defrost-ed" doesn't have the same structure as "un-frosted".

    – Mark Beadles
    2 days ago






  • 5





    @FumbleFingers Where did I say unfrosted isn't a word?

    – Mark Beadles
    yesterday






  • 4





    @MarkBeadles: Oops, sorry. I wasn't paying attention. On reflection I suppose there are an awful lot of perfectly natural unXXXed words where you'd struggle to defend to XXX as a valid verb (unwant, unabash, undispute,...).

    – FumbleFingers
    yesterday
















9















In Catch-22 there is following passage (my emphasis):




The unfrosted light bulb overhead was swinging crazily on its loose wire, and the jumbled black shadows kept swirling and bobbing chaotically, so that the entire tent seemed to be reeling.




Why is the light bulb "unfrosted"? I understand the meaning of "unfrost", but I don't understand how a light bulb can be unfrosted. Is this some metaphor?










share|improve this question


















  • 11





    It means a light bulb without a "frosted" surface, so that the glass bulb is clear and you can see the filament inside. images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/…

    – Hot Licks
    2 days ago






  • 5





    Also, I think you'd almost certainly get sharper shadows in light from an unfrosted bulb. And I'm sure we all agree that "single point light sources + sharp shadows" are far more spooky than diffuse lights and softer shadows.

    – FumbleFingers
    2 days ago






  • 13





    If you believe you understand the meaning of "unfrost", you might be wrong. "Unfrost" isn't a valid English word. There is a word "defrost" which may be what you were thinking of, but "defrost-ed" doesn't have the same structure as "un-frosted".

    – Mark Beadles
    2 days ago






  • 5





    @FumbleFingers Where did I say unfrosted isn't a word?

    – Mark Beadles
    yesterday






  • 4





    @MarkBeadles: Oops, sorry. I wasn't paying attention. On reflection I suppose there are an awful lot of perfectly natural unXXXed words where you'd struggle to defend to XXX as a valid verb (unwant, unabash, undispute,...).

    – FumbleFingers
    yesterday














9












9








9


3






In Catch-22 there is following passage (my emphasis):




The unfrosted light bulb overhead was swinging crazily on its loose wire, and the jumbled black shadows kept swirling and bobbing chaotically, so that the entire tent seemed to be reeling.




Why is the light bulb "unfrosted"? I understand the meaning of "unfrost", but I don't understand how a light bulb can be unfrosted. Is this some metaphor?










share|improve this question














In Catch-22 there is following passage (my emphasis):




The unfrosted light bulb overhead was swinging crazily on its loose wire, and the jumbled black shadows kept swirling and bobbing chaotically, so that the entire tent seemed to be reeling.




Why is the light bulb "unfrosted"? I understand the meaning of "unfrost", but I don't understand how a light bulb can be unfrosted. Is this some metaphor?







meaning meaning-in-context american-english






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 2 days ago









Franz DrolligFranz Drollig

512414




512414








  • 11





    It means a light bulb without a "frosted" surface, so that the glass bulb is clear and you can see the filament inside. images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/…

    – Hot Licks
    2 days ago






  • 5





    Also, I think you'd almost certainly get sharper shadows in light from an unfrosted bulb. And I'm sure we all agree that "single point light sources + sharp shadows" are far more spooky than diffuse lights and softer shadows.

    – FumbleFingers
    2 days ago






  • 13





    If you believe you understand the meaning of "unfrost", you might be wrong. "Unfrost" isn't a valid English word. There is a word "defrost" which may be what you were thinking of, but "defrost-ed" doesn't have the same structure as "un-frosted".

    – Mark Beadles
    2 days ago






  • 5





    @FumbleFingers Where did I say unfrosted isn't a word?

    – Mark Beadles
    yesterday






  • 4





    @MarkBeadles: Oops, sorry. I wasn't paying attention. On reflection I suppose there are an awful lot of perfectly natural unXXXed words where you'd struggle to defend to XXX as a valid verb (unwant, unabash, undispute,...).

    – FumbleFingers
    yesterday














  • 11





    It means a light bulb without a "frosted" surface, so that the glass bulb is clear and you can see the filament inside. images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/…

    – Hot Licks
    2 days ago






  • 5





    Also, I think you'd almost certainly get sharper shadows in light from an unfrosted bulb. And I'm sure we all agree that "single point light sources + sharp shadows" are far more spooky than diffuse lights and softer shadows.

    – FumbleFingers
    2 days ago






  • 13





    If you believe you understand the meaning of "unfrost", you might be wrong. "Unfrost" isn't a valid English word. There is a word "defrost" which may be what you were thinking of, but "defrost-ed" doesn't have the same structure as "un-frosted".

    – Mark Beadles
    2 days ago






  • 5





    @FumbleFingers Where did I say unfrosted isn't a word?

    – Mark Beadles
    yesterday






  • 4





    @MarkBeadles: Oops, sorry. I wasn't paying attention. On reflection I suppose there are an awful lot of perfectly natural unXXXed words where you'd struggle to defend to XXX as a valid verb (unwant, unabash, undispute,...).

    – FumbleFingers
    yesterday








11




11





It means a light bulb without a "frosted" surface, so that the glass bulb is clear and you can see the filament inside. images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/…

– Hot Licks
2 days ago





It means a light bulb without a "frosted" surface, so that the glass bulb is clear and you can see the filament inside. images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/…

– Hot Licks
2 days ago




5




5





Also, I think you'd almost certainly get sharper shadows in light from an unfrosted bulb. And I'm sure we all agree that "single point light sources + sharp shadows" are far more spooky than diffuse lights and softer shadows.

– FumbleFingers
2 days ago





Also, I think you'd almost certainly get sharper shadows in light from an unfrosted bulb. And I'm sure we all agree that "single point light sources + sharp shadows" are far more spooky than diffuse lights and softer shadows.

– FumbleFingers
2 days ago




13




13





If you believe you understand the meaning of "unfrost", you might be wrong. "Unfrost" isn't a valid English word. There is a word "defrost" which may be what you were thinking of, but "defrost-ed" doesn't have the same structure as "un-frosted".

– Mark Beadles
2 days ago





If you believe you understand the meaning of "unfrost", you might be wrong. "Unfrost" isn't a valid English word. There is a word "defrost" which may be what you were thinking of, but "defrost-ed" doesn't have the same structure as "un-frosted".

– Mark Beadles
2 days ago




5




5





@FumbleFingers Where did I say unfrosted isn't a word?

– Mark Beadles
yesterday





@FumbleFingers Where did I say unfrosted isn't a word?

– Mark Beadles
yesterday




4




4





@MarkBeadles: Oops, sorry. I wasn't paying attention. On reflection I suppose there are an awful lot of perfectly natural unXXXed words where you'd struggle to defend to XXX as a valid verb (unwant, unabash, undispute,...).

– FumbleFingers
yesterday





@MarkBeadles: Oops, sorry. I wasn't paying attention. On reflection I suppose there are an awful lot of perfectly natural unXXXed words where you'd struggle to defend to XXX as a valid verb (unwant, unabash, undispute,...).

– FumbleFingers
yesterday










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















15














It means the light bulb that is "not frosted". Frosted glass is translucent(semi transparent).



So it refers to a clear(transparent) glass bulb where you can see the filament.






share|improve this answer










New contributor




yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




























    62














    enter image description here



    Source



    A frosted light bulb (l) is one with a translucent white coating sprayed on the interior surface which diffuses the light. Earlier incandescent bulbs were all made of clear glass, i.e. unfrosted (r). Frosted bulbs came on the American market in the 1920s.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 5





      Unfrosted lights also cast "harsher" shadows with sharper edges. Frosted lights produce soft natural shadows more similar to those produced outdoors on a sunny day. Shadow softness is also a subconscious visual cue as to an object's distance, so a hard shadow in a small space creates cognitive dissonance, with at least one signal indicating the environment must be extremely large. These factors contribute to the mood of the scene referenced in the book.

      – MooseBoys
      yesterday






    • 1





      I think the frosting is not a spray, but a rough surface on the inside of the glass.

      – Martin Bonner
      yesterday






    • 3





      @MartinBonner I'm pretty sure you can clean the frosting right off of a lightbulb from the inside. It's probably far cheaper to just mass produce the clear lightbulbs and then blast some of them with a quick shot of some coating.

      – JMac
      yesterday






    • 6





      I have filed a hole in a frosted bulb to fill it with colored water. Can confirm the frosting just washes right out. Also if the filament breaks, you can shake it around and easily "scratch"off the coating.

      – JPhi1618
      yesterday








    • 6





      @MartinBonner Originally frosted lightbulbs were etched in an acid bath. Modern ones are (mostly?) coated. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin

      – Konrad Rudolph
      yesterday



















    10














    Whilst we can agree about the literal meaning of frosted and unfrosted, the important part is what the significance would be in this context.



    We need to look at the properties of these bulbs. Both lampshades and frosting made the light less harsh by making the shadows more diffuse. A lampshade would have given the most pleasant light, at the cost of (1) the lampshade, and (2) reduced efficiency as some light would be absorbed, leading to higher running costs. A frosted bulb would have had the same two effects, to a lesser extent.



    This bulb (which clearly had no shade as it was just on a wire) was therefore the cheapest option, in terms of both capital and running costs. So we get a sense of cheapness.



    But we also get a sense of atmosphere, as these moving shadows, caused by the swinging bulb would have been much more noticeable, detailed and distracting from this unshaded, unfrosted bulb. Even a small movement would lead to moving sharp patterns on the wall, that would not occur with a frosted bulb.



    Addition in response to comment: since the bulb is in a tent it is quite possible it is battery powered. This would accentuate the power-saving aspect. Further, a low-powered bulb is likely. This would have had a physically smaller filament and made the shadows even sharper. Since everything would be close together, it would be easy to see a lot of detail, even fingers and locks of hair in the moving shadows on the walls of the tent.






    share|improve this answer


























    • Note that this light bulb was in a tent - so it may even have been battery powered. Also, in a tent, any wind would cause the bulb to be "swinging crazily on its loose wire".

      – TrevorD
      2 days ago











    • Thank you, @TrevorD. I have added to my answer in response.

      – David Robinson
      yesterday











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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    15














    It means the light bulb that is "not frosted". Frosted glass is translucent(semi transparent).



    So it refers to a clear(transparent) glass bulb where you can see the filament.






    share|improve this answer










    New contributor




    yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.

























      15














      It means the light bulb that is "not frosted". Frosted glass is translucent(semi transparent).



      So it refers to a clear(transparent) glass bulb where you can see the filament.






      share|improve this answer










      New contributor




      yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.























        15












        15








        15







        It means the light bulb that is "not frosted". Frosted glass is translucent(semi transparent).



        So it refers to a clear(transparent) glass bulb where you can see the filament.






        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.










        It means the light bulb that is "not frosted". Frosted glass is translucent(semi transparent).



        So it refers to a clear(transparent) glass bulb where you can see the filament.







        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited yesterday





















        New contributor




        yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        answered 2 days ago









        yenkaykayyenkaykay

        30614




        30614




        New contributor




        yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.





        New contributor





        yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.






        yenkaykay is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.

























            62














            enter image description here



            Source



            A frosted light bulb (l) is one with a translucent white coating sprayed on the interior surface which diffuses the light. Earlier incandescent bulbs were all made of clear glass, i.e. unfrosted (r). Frosted bulbs came on the American market in the 1920s.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 5





              Unfrosted lights also cast "harsher" shadows with sharper edges. Frosted lights produce soft natural shadows more similar to those produced outdoors on a sunny day. Shadow softness is also a subconscious visual cue as to an object's distance, so a hard shadow in a small space creates cognitive dissonance, with at least one signal indicating the environment must be extremely large. These factors contribute to the mood of the scene referenced in the book.

              – MooseBoys
              yesterday






            • 1





              I think the frosting is not a spray, but a rough surface on the inside of the glass.

              – Martin Bonner
              yesterday






            • 3





              @MartinBonner I'm pretty sure you can clean the frosting right off of a lightbulb from the inside. It's probably far cheaper to just mass produce the clear lightbulbs and then blast some of them with a quick shot of some coating.

              – JMac
              yesterday






            • 6





              I have filed a hole in a frosted bulb to fill it with colored water. Can confirm the frosting just washes right out. Also if the filament breaks, you can shake it around and easily "scratch"off the coating.

              – JPhi1618
              yesterday








            • 6





              @MartinBonner Originally frosted lightbulbs were etched in an acid bath. Modern ones are (mostly?) coated. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin

              – Konrad Rudolph
              yesterday
















            62














            enter image description here



            Source



            A frosted light bulb (l) is one with a translucent white coating sprayed on the interior surface which diffuses the light. Earlier incandescent bulbs were all made of clear glass, i.e. unfrosted (r). Frosted bulbs came on the American market in the 1920s.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 5





              Unfrosted lights also cast "harsher" shadows with sharper edges. Frosted lights produce soft natural shadows more similar to those produced outdoors on a sunny day. Shadow softness is also a subconscious visual cue as to an object's distance, so a hard shadow in a small space creates cognitive dissonance, with at least one signal indicating the environment must be extremely large. These factors contribute to the mood of the scene referenced in the book.

              – MooseBoys
              yesterday






            • 1





              I think the frosting is not a spray, but a rough surface on the inside of the glass.

              – Martin Bonner
              yesterday






            • 3





              @MartinBonner I'm pretty sure you can clean the frosting right off of a lightbulb from the inside. It's probably far cheaper to just mass produce the clear lightbulbs and then blast some of them with a quick shot of some coating.

              – JMac
              yesterday






            • 6





              I have filed a hole in a frosted bulb to fill it with colored water. Can confirm the frosting just washes right out. Also if the filament breaks, you can shake it around and easily "scratch"off the coating.

              – JPhi1618
              yesterday








            • 6





              @MartinBonner Originally frosted lightbulbs were etched in an acid bath. Modern ones are (mostly?) coated. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin

              – Konrad Rudolph
              yesterday














            62












            62








            62







            enter image description here



            Source



            A frosted light bulb (l) is one with a translucent white coating sprayed on the interior surface which diffuses the light. Earlier incandescent bulbs were all made of clear glass, i.e. unfrosted (r). Frosted bulbs came on the American market in the 1920s.






            share|improve this answer













            enter image description here



            Source



            A frosted light bulb (l) is one with a translucent white coating sprayed on the interior surface which diffuses the light. Earlier incandescent bulbs were all made of clear glass, i.e. unfrosted (r). Frosted bulbs came on the American market in the 1920s.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered 2 days ago









            KarlGKarlG

            22.6k63261




            22.6k63261








            • 5





              Unfrosted lights also cast "harsher" shadows with sharper edges. Frosted lights produce soft natural shadows more similar to those produced outdoors on a sunny day. Shadow softness is also a subconscious visual cue as to an object's distance, so a hard shadow in a small space creates cognitive dissonance, with at least one signal indicating the environment must be extremely large. These factors contribute to the mood of the scene referenced in the book.

              – MooseBoys
              yesterday






            • 1





              I think the frosting is not a spray, but a rough surface on the inside of the glass.

              – Martin Bonner
              yesterday






            • 3





              @MartinBonner I'm pretty sure you can clean the frosting right off of a lightbulb from the inside. It's probably far cheaper to just mass produce the clear lightbulbs and then blast some of them with a quick shot of some coating.

              – JMac
              yesterday






            • 6





              I have filed a hole in a frosted bulb to fill it with colored water. Can confirm the frosting just washes right out. Also if the filament breaks, you can shake it around and easily "scratch"off the coating.

              – JPhi1618
              yesterday








            • 6





              @MartinBonner Originally frosted lightbulbs were etched in an acid bath. Modern ones are (mostly?) coated. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin

              – Konrad Rudolph
              yesterday














            • 5





              Unfrosted lights also cast "harsher" shadows with sharper edges. Frosted lights produce soft natural shadows more similar to those produced outdoors on a sunny day. Shadow softness is also a subconscious visual cue as to an object's distance, so a hard shadow in a small space creates cognitive dissonance, with at least one signal indicating the environment must be extremely large. These factors contribute to the mood of the scene referenced in the book.

              – MooseBoys
              yesterday






            • 1





              I think the frosting is not a spray, but a rough surface on the inside of the glass.

              – Martin Bonner
              yesterday






            • 3





              @MartinBonner I'm pretty sure you can clean the frosting right off of a lightbulb from the inside. It's probably far cheaper to just mass produce the clear lightbulbs and then blast some of them with a quick shot of some coating.

              – JMac
              yesterday






            • 6





              I have filed a hole in a frosted bulb to fill it with colored water. Can confirm the frosting just washes right out. Also if the filament breaks, you can shake it around and easily "scratch"off the coating.

              – JPhi1618
              yesterday








            • 6





              @MartinBonner Originally frosted lightbulbs were etched in an acid bath. Modern ones are (mostly?) coated. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin

              – Konrad Rudolph
              yesterday








            5




            5





            Unfrosted lights also cast "harsher" shadows with sharper edges. Frosted lights produce soft natural shadows more similar to those produced outdoors on a sunny day. Shadow softness is also a subconscious visual cue as to an object's distance, so a hard shadow in a small space creates cognitive dissonance, with at least one signal indicating the environment must be extremely large. These factors contribute to the mood of the scene referenced in the book.

            – MooseBoys
            yesterday





            Unfrosted lights also cast "harsher" shadows with sharper edges. Frosted lights produce soft natural shadows more similar to those produced outdoors on a sunny day. Shadow softness is also a subconscious visual cue as to an object's distance, so a hard shadow in a small space creates cognitive dissonance, with at least one signal indicating the environment must be extremely large. These factors contribute to the mood of the scene referenced in the book.

            – MooseBoys
            yesterday




            1




            1





            I think the frosting is not a spray, but a rough surface on the inside of the glass.

            – Martin Bonner
            yesterday





            I think the frosting is not a spray, but a rough surface on the inside of the glass.

            – Martin Bonner
            yesterday




            3




            3





            @MartinBonner I'm pretty sure you can clean the frosting right off of a lightbulb from the inside. It's probably far cheaper to just mass produce the clear lightbulbs and then blast some of them with a quick shot of some coating.

            – JMac
            yesterday





            @MartinBonner I'm pretty sure you can clean the frosting right off of a lightbulb from the inside. It's probably far cheaper to just mass produce the clear lightbulbs and then blast some of them with a quick shot of some coating.

            – JMac
            yesterday




            6




            6





            I have filed a hole in a frosted bulb to fill it with colored water. Can confirm the frosting just washes right out. Also if the filament breaks, you can shake it around and easily "scratch"off the coating.

            – JPhi1618
            yesterday







            I have filed a hole in a frosted bulb to fill it with colored water. Can confirm the frosting just washes right out. Also if the filament breaks, you can shake it around and easily "scratch"off the coating.

            – JPhi1618
            yesterday






            6




            6





            @MartinBonner Originally frosted lightbulbs were etched in an acid bath. Modern ones are (mostly?) coated. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin

            – Konrad Rudolph
            yesterday





            @MartinBonner Originally frosted lightbulbs were etched in an acid bath. Modern ones are (mostly?) coated. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Pipkin

            – Konrad Rudolph
            yesterday











            10














            Whilst we can agree about the literal meaning of frosted and unfrosted, the important part is what the significance would be in this context.



            We need to look at the properties of these bulbs. Both lampshades and frosting made the light less harsh by making the shadows more diffuse. A lampshade would have given the most pleasant light, at the cost of (1) the lampshade, and (2) reduced efficiency as some light would be absorbed, leading to higher running costs. A frosted bulb would have had the same two effects, to a lesser extent.



            This bulb (which clearly had no shade as it was just on a wire) was therefore the cheapest option, in terms of both capital and running costs. So we get a sense of cheapness.



            But we also get a sense of atmosphere, as these moving shadows, caused by the swinging bulb would have been much more noticeable, detailed and distracting from this unshaded, unfrosted bulb. Even a small movement would lead to moving sharp patterns on the wall, that would not occur with a frosted bulb.



            Addition in response to comment: since the bulb is in a tent it is quite possible it is battery powered. This would accentuate the power-saving aspect. Further, a low-powered bulb is likely. This would have had a physically smaller filament and made the shadows even sharper. Since everything would be close together, it would be easy to see a lot of detail, even fingers and locks of hair in the moving shadows on the walls of the tent.






            share|improve this answer


























            • Note that this light bulb was in a tent - so it may even have been battery powered. Also, in a tent, any wind would cause the bulb to be "swinging crazily on its loose wire".

              – TrevorD
              2 days ago











            • Thank you, @TrevorD. I have added to my answer in response.

              – David Robinson
              yesterday
















            10














            Whilst we can agree about the literal meaning of frosted and unfrosted, the important part is what the significance would be in this context.



            We need to look at the properties of these bulbs. Both lampshades and frosting made the light less harsh by making the shadows more diffuse. A lampshade would have given the most pleasant light, at the cost of (1) the lampshade, and (2) reduced efficiency as some light would be absorbed, leading to higher running costs. A frosted bulb would have had the same two effects, to a lesser extent.



            This bulb (which clearly had no shade as it was just on a wire) was therefore the cheapest option, in terms of both capital and running costs. So we get a sense of cheapness.



            But we also get a sense of atmosphere, as these moving shadows, caused by the swinging bulb would have been much more noticeable, detailed and distracting from this unshaded, unfrosted bulb. Even a small movement would lead to moving sharp patterns on the wall, that would not occur with a frosted bulb.



            Addition in response to comment: since the bulb is in a tent it is quite possible it is battery powered. This would accentuate the power-saving aspect. Further, a low-powered bulb is likely. This would have had a physically smaller filament and made the shadows even sharper. Since everything would be close together, it would be easy to see a lot of detail, even fingers and locks of hair in the moving shadows on the walls of the tent.






            share|improve this answer


























            • Note that this light bulb was in a tent - so it may even have been battery powered. Also, in a tent, any wind would cause the bulb to be "swinging crazily on its loose wire".

              – TrevorD
              2 days ago











            • Thank you, @TrevorD. I have added to my answer in response.

              – David Robinson
              yesterday














            10












            10








            10







            Whilst we can agree about the literal meaning of frosted and unfrosted, the important part is what the significance would be in this context.



            We need to look at the properties of these bulbs. Both lampshades and frosting made the light less harsh by making the shadows more diffuse. A lampshade would have given the most pleasant light, at the cost of (1) the lampshade, and (2) reduced efficiency as some light would be absorbed, leading to higher running costs. A frosted bulb would have had the same two effects, to a lesser extent.



            This bulb (which clearly had no shade as it was just on a wire) was therefore the cheapest option, in terms of both capital and running costs. So we get a sense of cheapness.



            But we also get a sense of atmosphere, as these moving shadows, caused by the swinging bulb would have been much more noticeable, detailed and distracting from this unshaded, unfrosted bulb. Even a small movement would lead to moving sharp patterns on the wall, that would not occur with a frosted bulb.



            Addition in response to comment: since the bulb is in a tent it is quite possible it is battery powered. This would accentuate the power-saving aspect. Further, a low-powered bulb is likely. This would have had a physically smaller filament and made the shadows even sharper. Since everything would be close together, it would be easy to see a lot of detail, even fingers and locks of hair in the moving shadows on the walls of the tent.






            share|improve this answer















            Whilst we can agree about the literal meaning of frosted and unfrosted, the important part is what the significance would be in this context.



            We need to look at the properties of these bulbs. Both lampshades and frosting made the light less harsh by making the shadows more diffuse. A lampshade would have given the most pleasant light, at the cost of (1) the lampshade, and (2) reduced efficiency as some light would be absorbed, leading to higher running costs. A frosted bulb would have had the same two effects, to a lesser extent.



            This bulb (which clearly had no shade as it was just on a wire) was therefore the cheapest option, in terms of both capital and running costs. So we get a sense of cheapness.



            But we also get a sense of atmosphere, as these moving shadows, caused by the swinging bulb would have been much more noticeable, detailed and distracting from this unshaded, unfrosted bulb. Even a small movement would lead to moving sharp patterns on the wall, that would not occur with a frosted bulb.



            Addition in response to comment: since the bulb is in a tent it is quite possible it is battery powered. This would accentuate the power-saving aspect. Further, a low-powered bulb is likely. This would have had a physically smaller filament and made the shadows even sharper. Since everything would be close together, it would be easy to see a lot of detail, even fingers and locks of hair in the moving shadows on the walls of the tent.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited yesterday

























            answered 2 days ago









            David RobinsonDavid Robinson

            2,381216




            2,381216













            • Note that this light bulb was in a tent - so it may even have been battery powered. Also, in a tent, any wind would cause the bulb to be "swinging crazily on its loose wire".

              – TrevorD
              2 days ago











            • Thank you, @TrevorD. I have added to my answer in response.

              – David Robinson
              yesterday



















            • Note that this light bulb was in a tent - so it may even have been battery powered. Also, in a tent, any wind would cause the bulb to be "swinging crazily on its loose wire".

              – TrevorD
              2 days ago











            • Thank you, @TrevorD. I have added to my answer in response.

              – David Robinson
              yesterday

















            Note that this light bulb was in a tent - so it may even have been battery powered. Also, in a tent, any wind would cause the bulb to be "swinging crazily on its loose wire".

            – TrevorD
            2 days ago





            Note that this light bulb was in a tent - so it may even have been battery powered. Also, in a tent, any wind would cause the bulb to be "swinging crazily on its loose wire".

            – TrevorD
            2 days ago













            Thank you, @TrevorD. I have added to my answer in response.

            – David Robinson
            yesterday





            Thank you, @TrevorD. I have added to my answer in response.

            – David Robinson
            yesterday


















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