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Edison’s “Fun” Lab — The Original Silicon Valley — If Silicon Valley Was a 24/7 Sweatshop
Free beer, music, and gambling — just don’t ask why no one ever left the office.
How many times did you find yourself at work, slaving away while the clock jeeringly laughed at your earnestness, dreaming instead of a workplace that feels less like a slow march into the coffin? Imagine a workplace where toil is cushioned with camaraderie, laughter, and a few friendly bets.
This quite well describes the environment Thomas Edison had established at Menlo Park: practical jokes, competitions, and all-night parties. But is this the image of the kindly inventor we’re familiar with, or is it a clever artifice behind which sinister reality lurks?
More than about Edison, this serves as a mirror reflecting back. Let’s get the layers peeled off!
Free Beer, Games, and Why Workers Never Left Edison’s Lab
The gut reaction is envy. Who wouldn’t want free food, cheap beer, and a 20-minute walk away from the office instead of an hour-long commute with tiny portions in the canteen?
It seems difficult to imagine Edison laboring in a lab where work included music and wagering, because most modern…
