Floodlights & Spotlights

This catalogue was produced to demonstrate the advantages of floodlighting by gas in honour of “Their Majesties’ Jubilee”, 1935

The floodlight on the left was intended for temporary installations judging by the ground spikes and for lighting facades of buildings for which it had to point upwards making it necessary to arrange the glass in strips to allow for the enormous heat. The right hand floodlight was a more modest affair with conventional superheated burner and parabolic reflector for nearer horizontal use.

These pictures show two products, a ‘photoflood’ and a spotlight with the central picture showing the application of the photoflood whilst the photographer is taking a picture of an early loudspeaker. It wouldn’t do for chocolate biscuits!Copyright © Chris Sugg 2006-13

Back to Lighting

“The Early History of Gas Lighting”, as published in “Once a Week”, October 26, 1872.

Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II – and Gas Lights

The Removal of Gaslights in Westminster 2021

The End of Street Lighting by Gas in the UK

The Real Story behind the Gas Lamps & Lamplighters in Mary Poppins Returns.

200 Years of Gas Supply 1792-1992

Site Background & Header

The background to the site is a modern picture of Westminster, the ‘home’ of William Sugg for so many years. It was taken from the roof of The House of Lords during a visit by the Heritage Group of CIBSE in 2004 and centres on Westminster Abbey. The header carries a woodcut of ‘Vincent Works’, the Sugg factory, which might well have been visible from this vantage point. William used this on one of his letter heads. The first and oldest logo also shows the intimate connection with Westminster as it carries the Westminster portcullis with the inscription ‘en avant’ – ‘in advance’. The second logo replaced the earlier one around 1920 and was used right the way through the century until the ‘modern’ era when the ‘flame’ logo was applied to the new era of gas heating equipment with the new factory in Crawley.