Trying To Find Lamp (Double Student)
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Trying To Find Lamp (Double Student)
by Larry (MIDTOD@netins.net)
Posted: Dec. 20, 1998 @ 10:39.
When I was a child, we often visited relatives who had a beautiful
home. I vividly remember a lamp they had which for some reason I
always loved. When I grew into adulthood and finally had a home of my
own, I wanted to acquire a lamp just like I'd seen at my relatives'
house. I have searched for years to find such a lamp, to no avail. I
now realize it must have been an alladin lamp, but with one important
variation. The one I remember had twin fixtures sharing one pedestal.
In other words, it was a double lamp. I continue to see this design
in old movies quite frequently. In fact, if you ever watch the old "I
Love Lucy" re-runs which are on the Nickelodeon cable channel, they
have one of these lamps sitting on the desk in their living room! My
relatives' lamp was brass and had bright red (ribbed) glass shades
over the clear glass chimneys. It was beautiful. In recent years I
have asked my family about this, and they told me they had had a
kereosene lamp electrified. (They no longer have the lamp). Surely
SOMEBODY makes a reproduction of this lamp. I can't believe a style
that was once so popular has disappeared from the stores. You can
occasionally find a lamp with a single fixture, but the doubles are
impossible to find. Does anyone know the sort of lamp I am describing
and do you have any source you could recommend that would sell an
electric version of this style? I'd truly be grateful for any
assistance.
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On Dec. 20, 1998 @ 11:31, Fil Graff, Guild Secretary (fgraff@comcast.net) wrote:
Larry: I think what you remember was a double "student lamp". If it
was an Aladdin, a bloody fortune was lost when it went to scrap, or
the Big Lamp Shop in the Sky! Many of these old brass lamps DID get
turned in during WWII to be melted down to make shell casings! Talk
about beating plowshares into swords!
At any rate, the double
lamp on single pedestal was made by MANY manufacturers in the US and
England. The most commonly found ones here (and "commonly" is
definately relative...there aren't many of ANY) are the Bradley and
Hubbard, Plume and Atwood or Edw. Miller, all with Duplex burners
(that's two wicks on the same burner). They DO turn up at auctions on
occasion, and for sale by collectors and dealers. The red shades, if
original, today would bring almost as much as the lamp!
If you
start a search, be very careful about electrified lamps. These
student lamps were generally prized by their owners, and when the
"high line" came, were often electrified to keep them useful.
"Electrification" can run from discrete and reversable (how we wish
to find these!) to simply god-awful and destructive. Attempts to hide
the wires often involved drilling tubes, and/or whacking up the font.
In terms of desirability, lamps like this fall near the bottom of the
list. The preference for returning these old gems to original
kerosene burning condition is almost universal among collectors like
most Guild Members. The gentler the job of wiring, the easier and
less noticable is the reversal process.
You may want to keep them
electric, if found that way, and that's OK too. There ARE excellent
quality reproduction 10" ribbed red-cased shades from England still
around, if serving the memory requires a match to your relatives
lamp. Several Guild Members should have restored double student lamps
in stock. This is NOT a commercial page, but if you would E-mail me,
I can refer you to several possiblities.
I hope that by Christmas
1999, you can have your very own double student lamp with red shades
lighting up the festivities in your home! Wishing you a Merry
Christmas this year, and a 1999 that makes your dreams a reality!
:: Fil Graff ::