Updated 05-III-2021

Frederick C. Kirchner
This article was written by fellow lamp engineer and collector Edward J. Covington, and originally appeared on his own website of biographical sketches of persons involved in the lamp industry. Following his passing in February 2017, and with kind permission of his family, Ed's words have been preserved here in the hope of maintaining access to his writings for the benefit of subsequent generations.


Frederick C. Kirchner, pictured in 19212

Biography
A native of Württemberg, Germany, Frederick Kirchner (1872-1936) worked for the Sawyer-Man Company in the New York City area from 1887 to 1891. He then started to work at the Edison Lamp Works in Harrison NJ as a stem maker. In 1892 he went to the Sunbeam Incandescent Lamp Company in Chicago, and from 1893 to 1895 was with the New York Electric Company at Hornellsville, NY, which moved first to Canisteo NY, and the to Youngstown OH, where it merged with the Orient Electric Company. He worked for that firm from 1896 to 1900 when the company became the Colonial Electric Company.

After a brief six-month interlude with the Peerless Company he started in 1901 with the Banner Electric Company, located in Youngstown OH. Banner became a part of the National Electric Lamp Association in 1907, and in 1914 Kirchner became Manager of the Youngstown Lamp Works of General Electric.


References
  1. "Frederick C. Kirchner", in The Electric Incandescent Lamp 1880-1925, E.J. Covington, GE Lighting NELA Press, Cleveland OH, 1998, p.137.
  2. "Banner Electric Company 20th Anniversary", 1921 USA.