@J.D. - I agree, I think fluorescent has gotten a bad rap with homeowners and business owners over the years Perceptions such as being flickery, noisy, low CRI, etc and even though modern phosphors combined with high frequency operation fixed most of those issues, the reputation seems to have lingered into the modern day so most people were more than happy to switch to LED. It's unfortunate but I guess combined with the higher cost of energy and the availability of pretty fool proof retrofit products, I guess retailers don't see a reason to stock them anymore. 

@AngryHorse - Yeah, I started collecting in the mid-late 2000s, and I'm kind of glad I caught the tail end of the heyday of conventional lighting. I'm not sure if I would have gotten into lighting if I were to start collecting lighting now. Back then I'd go visit Restore and always come back with a haul of great stuff, don't really see that anymore.

@JT good points but from the manufacturers point of view LED are BAD due to being "cheap and easy" allowing anybody and there dog to enter the competition and killing any profit margin
HID was a GOOD "gig" as the manufacturing is VERY cheap but the SET UP and the research to make a "good" bulb was VERY EXPENSIVE keeping the competition at bay and allowing some level of price control / market control
and for Floro being hated I believe it 100% deserves the HATE not due to the "tech" but it was the first lighting tech to suffer from price wars killing off ANY QUALITY leading to a market flooded with low performance "CR*P"
as a collector we want the 80's Japanese CFLs NOT the 90s "Chinese" ones because we know better

I just wish they hadn't stopped making SOX lamps. And before anybody mentions a certain far eastern country making them, don't 

  I would go so far that unmentioned "far east" country making them proves there was demand for them as they "spun up" a NEW fab and that closing the LOCAL plants made a hole that they filled 

I just wish they hadn't stopped making SOX lamps. And before anybody mentions a certain far eastern country making them, don't 

So far, there are some Chinese companies that are still making their own SOX low pressure sodium lamps to this day even though Philips was the last quality manufacturer to discontinue them.

What did I say about NOT mentioning that country..?
It was a simple enough request 

*I* did NOT mention the "not to be mentioned " country so *I* should be safe 

Not by name, but that wasn't the point. Enough.

Sorry, I just get so annoyed when people mention making SOX lamps there when... oh I've had enough, do what you want, I'm out of here 

So far, there are some Chinese companies that are still making their own SOX low pressure sodium lamps to this day even though Philips was the last quality manufacturer to discontinue them.

Those Chinese SOX lamps actually aren't too bad a quality! Apparently Lighting-Gallery member Danny has had one do 18 months of dusk-to-dawn service, when the average life from one was 24 months, and I expect that to improve over time as they research new lamp making techniques. (maybe someday we will even get a Chinese-made SOX lamp with a solid-state getter!)
A year and a half versus two years isn't actually much of a difference!
The fact that they were even able to get a working lamp in the first place that lasts a decent length of time, and then tool up a factory and mass-produce it is amazing. Even if you don't like Chinese-made lamps, you still have to appreciate how they are able to churn these lamps out by the millions while people thought that they were gone forever!

ENOUGH.!
Rommie asked you not to mention the fact lamps are being made there. 
Why can't you listen.?? 
We certainly do not appreciate the way they have systemically destroyed our home manufacturing. 

Well said.   

Do you suppose that this thread has become redundant and unnecessary.
I mean it's the same discussion over and over again.
About how bad the lighting industry is and lamp bans,poor quality LEDs, etc.

Look we all know that modern products are absolute junk.

I say forget all the BS about what's happening today because it's unavoidable and that's the way it is.

Instead focus on yesterday.
Preserving, restoring, and collecting the traditional light sources.

I agree, and I think that it is time for this thread to be locked.

do it. 

Thanks you all for the inputs, they are all very much appreciated. This thread is now locked. 

Now go enjoy the beautiful lighting gallery.