BJB has been making technology for light since 1867. At that time, though, it was not really light in the current sense of the word. It was produced by burning petroleum gas. Although the petroleum lamp had already been well-known for some time in the form of oil lamps, it only became more widespread with the invention of the gas cylinder and the round wick. Even then, the technical details of such a light fixture were quite complicated. The best ones achieved the same level of brightness as a 50 watt incandescent lamp.