The truth of the story is somewhat less intense but bears a fairly close resemblance14 to the legend. While by no means15 did Charles hold up a test tube to Edison’s lips as he lay dying, there were indeed a series of eight test tubes very nearby his bed. In the words of his son Charles:
“Though he is mainly remembered for his work in electrical fields, his real love was chemistry. It is not strange, but symbolic, that those test tubes were close to him at the end. Immediately after his passing I asked Dr. Hubert S. Howe, his attending physician, to seal them with paraffin.16 He did. Later I gave one of them to Mr. Ford.”
The test tube itself didn’t turn up until 1950 when it was cataloged in the Ford estate after Clara Ford’s passing, and then promptly lost again until 1978 when it was discovered, “in its cardboard mailing tube along with the hat and shoes under one of the display cases in an exhibit entitled, ‘Henry Ford—A Personal History’ in the Henry Ford Museum.”17 It would then be discovered that the tube was labeled “Edison’s Last Breath?”
There is a further mystery and irony of this ‘last breath’ test tube. It would seem as if Edison had quite a last breath indeed, as the Edison Estate holds a collection of 42 test tubes all supposedly containing Edison’s last breath.
Regardless of the hoopla18 over the last breath, the test tube is quite touching in its meaning. Although both men were known for all sorts of poor behavior towards their loved ones and mistreatment of employees, between them at least, there was clearly a profound mutual respect and admiration. The test tube stands as a last gift of friendship, memory and inspiration from one inventor to another.