If your light bulb packaging or the bulb itself says "burn base down," it means the bulb is designed to be installed with the metal base at the bottom, and the glass part pointing upwards.

I figured out the position. Your 2nd post tells me why.

(And you are 2 closer to 20,000!)

It is for the optimal performance of the bulb, and also considers proper heat dissipation.

.... electrical connections are located. You do not want those connections to "cook". Is helps greatly to increase the longevity of the light bulb's service time so premature burnout is avoided.

You could put this fixture on a dimming switch.

This allows the light fixture to be adjusted in brightness and light intensity.

So let's say you have a 60 watt bulb and you install a dimmer switch on the circuit. If you dim the light down to 1/3 the intensity of brightness, the light bulb becomes a 20 watt light bulb. At 20watts that bulb is generating way less heat.

So assuming this light fixture you are discussing is light around the bathroom mirror area. If it is background lighting to light up the room to see - keep the setting on low on the dimming switch. But if at the mirror and wanting to see something up close, which requires more intense light,... crank the dimmer switch to a higher level or on full brightness setting. But remember to not keep the light at the higher setting unnecessarily because that will prematurely burnout the bulb and cook the fixture.

If the dimmer switch is on at the highest setting you would also consume much more electricity which would be reflected in your electric power bill.

I avoid looking in any mirror, so it's mainly to light the room. I leave the light on all day to indirectly light the hall, so if I could reduce the stress on the bulbs, that'd be great!

I'll be looking for an electrician to do some small repairs. I'll definitely ask if a dimmer switch is possible for that light. There is a light switch on the wall, and the wiring is behind drywall.

The higher you engage the toggle the more power the switch delivers to the light fixture. It looks like a regular toggle light switch but it has that dimming feature built in.

The dimmer with the circular cover cap over a pin does not last too long. The round circular plastic cover where the round plastic cover attaches to the pin which attaches to the dimmer box inside the wall. There is a lot of wear and tear at a light switch,... the toggle design is far more durable and it looks sleek.

My favorite was a red and white metal sign attached to a wood stove, "wood stove may be hot." I passed on that model, treating me like that much of an idiot has never been a selling point.

It sounds like Sylvania was warning against using their bulbs anywhere water might be standing or spashed or under cloth or paper or too close to walls. Old incandescent bulbs got a lot hotter than some of the modern alternatives and could cause smoldering fires if people were stupid.

Bottom line: incandescent bulbs run hot, hot enough to have been the heat source in 1960s kiddie E=Z Bake Ovens, sufficient to produce soft cookies. Just make sure they're not in contact with water or anything combustible and you'll be fine.

I had a bulb for the toy oven in original packaging, can't remember if I sold it. Had an easy bake oven when I was a kid.

I remember the hot bulbs. When we were kids, we'd hold crayons against bulbs to melt them. One time, wax ran down into the socket and shorted the lamp out. Didn't do that anymore! Sometimes I'm surprised we survived childhood. lol