Lava lamp

In the 1950s, Edward Craven Walker, a British inventor, saw a noveltyneuartignovelty egg timerEieruhregg timer that used immisciblenicht mischbarimmiscible substances. It gave him the idea for a new type of lamp. 

He created a mixture of oil, waxWachswax and chemicals. A heating element and tungsten bulbGlühbirnetungsten bulb warmed the wax, which expanded and rose inside a glass jarGefäßjar, then cooled and sank to the bottom to start all over again. It was, Craven Walker said, “like the cycle of life”. His psychedelic “lava” lamps contained red or white wax and yellow or blue liquid. Tiny holes were drilled into the metal baseBodenbase, to simulate starlight.

Craven Walker set up a company, Crestworth. In 1963, he launch sth.etw. auf den Markt bringenlaunched the Astro lamp, followed a year later by the Astro Baby. Sales boomed during the 1960s and 1970s. In the early 1990s, the company changed its name to Mathmos, taken from the 1968 cult film Barbarella. The firm still sells British-made lava lamps and parts for its original Astros. And the “lava” formulaFormel, Zusammensetzungformula remains a trade secretBetriebsgeheimnistrade secret to this day.