Gangrey
Vol. I · No. 1Prolonging the Slow Death of NewspapersEst. 2026

Still Burning

Lon Wagner: In 1879, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.
By 1905, the bulbs were being sold in stores, and a family in Norfolk bought one.
What they did with it at first is not known, but sometime around 1914 the bulb was screwed into the porch lamp of a house on 37th Street, and someone flipped the switch.
They left that light on, burning night and day every day, until they sold the house in the early 1940s to a family that included a little boy who grew up to become a lawyer in Virginia Beach.

By 1905, the bulbs were being sold in stores, and a family in Norfolk bought one.

What they did with it at first is not known, but sometime around 1914 the bulb was screwed into the porch lamp of a house on 37th Street, and someone flipped the switch.

They left that light on, burning night and day every day, until they sold the house in the early 1940s to a family that included a little boy who grew up to become a lawyer in Virginia Beach.

Keep Reading

People of diverse skin tones fist bumping in a circle.Essays

How to be a Diversity Hire

1 Min
An empty hospital bed sits in a dimly lit room.Micro-Memoir

Goodnight, Grandpa

1 Min
A group of people walking across a street.Micro-Memoir

Sonder

1 Min

Leave a comment

Posting subscribes you to the Gangrey newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime.