Perhaps no invention defines the Gilded Age in the United States like Thomas Edison’s light bulb; only Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone rivals it in importance. The ability to flip a switch and turn darkness to light has had an impact equivalent to that of fire or the wheel or air conditioning on human life in the modern era. Candles, oil, kerosene, and gaslight had previously allowed people to live their lives past sundown, but all of them were expensive and carried an element of danger in the exposure to open flame. Edison’s light bulb was cheap and safe and therefore transformed the workplace, the home, and leisure spaces. Longer work hours were possible and exploited by industry, while the workplace itself stood less of a chance of being consumed by fire. The same went for homes, where people were able to stay up later and expand their leisure time—not to mention how the introduction of electricity into homes to power light bulbs led to any number of other household improvements as well.