Think the largest Edison/Mazda base flash bulb was a #75, 180,000 lumen seconds ?
http://lampes-et-tubes.info/fl/fl043.php?l=e

Consider the size of any electronic flash to produce THAT amount of light.

Then there was the extremely common GE flash cube that was used on Kodak Instamatic and similar cameras.

Flash bulb "guns" often had a ejector mechanism to rapidly dump the HOT flash bulb allowing another to be rapidly installed. These were the staple of Press Photographers and other Photographers who needed a lot of light for their image making needs. These were the days of 4x5 Speed Graphics and similar 4x5 press cameras.


Bernice