Fluorescent street lights never were too common in the United States. However, they offered high luminous efficiency, low glare and long bulb life providing pleasant, soft-appearing white light, superior color rendition and instantly coming up to brightness when turned on. Many installations were within downtown areas. Earliest installations were around 1952 and the first fluorescent luminaires were manufactured by General Electric. Most installations remained until the early 1980s when servicing and obtaining parts became a problem and quite expensive. Replacement lights were mercury vapor or high pressure sodium fixtures. These were smaller and simpler, providing improved energy efficiency with long lightbulb life.