THEN
SUITCASE STAGE LIGHTS
In 1937, PopSci published instructions to build a lightweight stage-lighting kit. The plans included a $10 ($161 today) switchboard-in-a-suitcase, a tin-can spotlight, compact footlights, and a dimmer made from running electricity through a bucket of saltwater. Some kit builders lived to share their glowing reviews: “The switchboard has been used very successfully by Wesley Players, an amateur dramatics society conducted by students at the universities of Wisconsin and Purdue.”
