The end of free lightbulbs in Detroit

Each year millions of lightbulbs are purchased in this nation, maybe even in this city alone. At one time, despite the massive amount of bulbs needed, only a small percentage of them were bought in the store; instead, residents took advantage of Detroit Edison's ongoing program: free lightbulbs.

At the beginning of the era of electric light, not too long after Edison finally perfected the bulb, hundreds of electric utilities sprung into existence.  In Detroit, the Edison affiliate that dominated and eventually gained control of all of Metro Detroit's power grid, came into existence.  Taking the rather prosaic name of Detroit Edison, the company began a promotion that many other companies had undertaken to attract customers.  This program provided new customers with complimentary lightbulbs for their lights.  This was only half of it, however.   As long as the customer could present a current electric bill, they could bring in all their burned out bulbs and get them replaced with new ones, with only a two dollar annual fee.  This practice, beginning in the late 19th century, continues well into the 20th, only ending in the 1970s.

This program, which had run for so long, was finally ended by one man: Lawrence Cantor.  This man was a Detroit drug store owner who brought suit because Edison's program denied him the ability to sell lightbulbs in his store.  While he might stock them, who would by them when they could get them for almost nothing from Edison?  He filed an anti- monopoly suit in 1972, and the case went through the local and state courts, each of which sided with Edison's practice being legal, due to the permission of the Michigan Public Service Commission.  However, the case was taken all the way to the United States Supreme Court, reaching this bench in 1976.  Decided a couple of days after the nation celebrated its Bicentennial, in the case of Cantor V. Detroit Edison Co. the nations highest court decided against the Edison program, stating that acceptance by a state commission did not prevent anti- monopoly laws from applying to it.  The court ordered the end of the program, which came in 1978.

This practice, which was a popular service for so many years, today is but a memory.  Gone are the times when one could simply save up their old bulbs and turn them in for new ones, with almost no charge to the consumer.  It would be a wonderful perk for DTE customers today, but it will forever remain a banned practice in the United States.  Only the U.S. Supreme Court can change that, and its doubtful that will happen.  This may be a boon to stores across the country, but to the consumers it forever means more of their hard earned cash being spent on something that was once free.