[SML] orange streetlights

[Judith Kupferman]

"I also remember that the streetlights in San Diego were an ugly orange
color and they really bothered me.. What kind of lamps were those?"

They were probably low pressure sodium lights. The most really
monochromatic light ever built outside a laser, they really had only
two (yellow) wave lengths. As a result you couldn't see colors with
them.

I saw a terrific use of this in the Stuttgart Ballet's production of
Sleeping Beauty, where the witch casts a spell at the ball. At first
the stage is lit in a kind of straw orangy color which looks just like
those lamps, but you can see all the colors of the ball gowns. Then
they added the sodium lights and when she cast the spell, they faded
out all the regular lights. And all the colors of the ball gowns
drained away!

Judy