Do you ever look at lamps and wonder what they have "seen" in their lifetime? Perhaps you even know that some of them have had an interesting history - lived in a palace for example! There's no doubt that some of them were quite expensive in their time and would have spent their time in the "big house" so to speak... Maybe I'm just a bit odd but I often wonder about this when I look at a lamp and imagine some servant sitting down polishing it in a kind of Downton Abbey Scene...
I have several vintage items that I'm sure have stories. to tell if they could. But it's a good thing that we can't pry stories from our goods, or we'd have to destroy everything around us at the end of a bad day!
Iv'e got a Tilley 246B that was sold to me as belonging once to the WW1 spy Mata Hari and used in her boudoir What stories that one could tell Merry festive season everyone - Steve
If you want to really get items with that "historic aura" around them, collect coins. I hunt with a metal detector for coins and relics and also have a small coin collection too. I'm not so interested in the highly priced investment coins but prefer coins that have seen some circulation. Think of the history that has taken place while a old worn coin has passed from hand to hand for decades. Even better are ones I've found at places such as Civil War camps ,historic house sites etc. I restored the kitchen of an ca.1815 house. I had to work on the brick at the foundation in the crawl space. I completely removed the floor for access and removed perhaps a half ton of soil from under the floor. I found several coins, marbles of all types. tableware and even broken tools from when the house was constructed. I had a great time !! The house belongs to the historical society and I put the items in the museum. Pardon my rambling but I am very much into history and historic objects, not really antiques but relics.. Mike
The shade which is on my Famos mantle lamp, came from Lunna house here in Shetland. Lunna House was used during WW2., as the first base of operations for what was known as the Shetland Bus. The link below shows the Shetland Bus website. http://shetlandbus.com/
Oh yes have often wondered where they have traveled to around the country and how many owners they may have had. For some of the unusual lanterns, I have managed to acquire some history on them. Also wonder where they have illuminated campsites.
I don't know what my lamps have seen, but some 40 years ago, when on camp as a scout we regularly used bialaddin 315's.
This pre-war PL53 was given to me by my wife's uncle together with a X246 Guardsman; bought new by his grandfather and it was much used by three generations in the family market-garden glasshouses until they "went modern" and acquired a light bulb on a long piece of flex. Whilst it is a common model, it is a lantern I am very pleased to have.
I know I am only the third owner of my Tilley VL1. I got it from a rural furniture maker who told me it was given to him and his new wife when they moved into an estate cottage where he was employed as a gardener. The day they moved in the lady of the house gave them one of the vase lamps they had used in the big house as there was no electricity in the cottage. John told me it was their main light for many years until they moved out at the beginning of WW2. ::Neil::
The big question is Neil, how many more did they have in the main house and which colours? They might still be in the cellar collecting dust. Mmmmm, the dream of many collectors hey.
I've recounted the source of my Kildark and Akron chandeliers, also Coleman wall lamp on this Forum already. They came from a village hall in Aberdeenshire which was built in 1928. All kinds of activities would have gone on there (some maybe best not mentioned here!) such as dances, concerts, badminton etc. The wall lamp is hung now in the hall next to a chrome Tilley WL but the chandeliers are a bit of a problem as we have quite low ceilings.
I always ask people when I buy a lamp, what did you use it for? I got answers as "when i was a kid I always had to light it up and hang it in the chickenhouse at sundown" and "my father used it for eel-fishing and he always brought me to light the damn thing" and "those of us in the army with the proper education were allowed to light it up for our superiors". I love all the statements just as much as im fascinated by the history behind the brands like Hasags, Aida, Petromax, Primus, Hipolito and on and on. If a lamp could talk - man what a thought.
Hi - a little follow up! Today I was with my son at a museum where they shows fish, seals and the history of fishing in Danmark, when this turned up: It was used up to the mid 1970's for comercial use. Some people I buy lamps from, tells that they used the lamps for this purpose, but it is the first time I have seen how the lamp is mounted. The wire must reach at least to the middle of the lake, while it has been electrocuted I couldnt find a plate with the type on the lamp, but it had a black plast-controlwheel and was painted gray. Looked like a Petromax 826, a long way from mint Claus C
