Antique Lamp Buyers Guide

Many basic questions confronting antique lamp buyers, from "Where do I look for a manufacturer's signature?" to "How do I distinguish reproductions from originals?" are answered here. Using color photographs and catalogue illustrations, a wealth of information is presented including buying or selling old lighting, restoration issues like rewiring, practical uses for fixtures originally made for gas or oil, and restoring and protecting metal finishes.

Near the turn of the twentieth century, the mass production of affordable lighting forever changed how we work, play, and live. This tectonic shift is directly related to the availability of cheap petroleum-based oil and the refinement of the kerosene lamp. Author Catherine Thuro devoted years of research to compiling a record of these formerly ubiquitous lighting devices. Oil Lamps is her first masterpiece: a comprehensive, invaluable resource. With over 1,000 lamps shown in detailed studio photographs, clearly reproduced illustrations from catalogues and trade journals, this book is the definitive visual compilation of kerosene lamps and accessories. The clear photography is also matched by detailed and engaging explanations about the origins of lamp styles. Thuro places the kerosene lamp in cultural and historical context, discussing the revolutionary large-scale production of these luminaries, the wide array of raw material used, and the far-reaching consequences of a society literally brought into the light on a massive scale. For both historical and comparative information, this is a must-have reference for collectors.

This informative and stunning book is the capstone in Catherine Thuro's three-part series on oil lamps. Focusing on trimmings, the jaw-dropping variety of models, and likely placement in the home, this book celebrates the convergence of appliance and art in the Kerosene Era.

During the 1950s, Moss lamps radiantly combined plexiglas bodies, spun glass shades, and spinning figurines transforming humdrum home decor into something extraordinary. Learn of the Moss success story through exclusive interviews with family members and employees, 750 current and vintage product photos, and never-before-seen materials from the Moss archives. Also included are a product index, price guide, and detailed information on the many collectible figurines that graced Moss lamps.

Anyone Who Owns An Oil Lamp Should Read This Book. Oil Lamps A Guide To Their Care And Operation is a small book HUGE in essential information. Instantly learn these important must do precautions about oil lamps. The 1 crucial rule to avoid a calamitous explosion! 6 essential steps to light your oil lamp safely. How to safely site your lamp. 3 actions never to do when cleaning your antique oil lamp. Would you like to learn more? Get started right away and learn the 7 important and essential steps to perform after installing a new wick in your Aladdin lamp. Plus much more because safety when using an oil lamp is everything! After all, oil lamp oil is used for fuel. Oil for lamps is inflammable and therefore incredibly dangerous if not used correctly. People have actually lost their lives over the centuries through incorrect usage of vintage lamps. Operating and caring for a paraffin lamp -kerosene lamp in the USA - is not like the simple act of turning on a switch and having instant light. There are necessary rituals to perform and pitfalls to avoid. Lighting and preparing to light oil lamps is anything but instant. When you have reached the end of the book you will have all the information you will ever need in order to operate your oil lamp safely and also how to look after it correctly. As well as having many photos of beautiful antique lamps, I've also included a brief history of lighting by oil and descriptions of different types of vintage lighting in use today. I hope you will find 'Oil Lamps A Guide To Their Care And Operation' interesting as well as useful and informative and wish you a great and enjoyable read.

Few growing up in the aftermath of World War II will ever forget the horrifying reports that Nazi concentration camp doctors had removed the skin of prisoners to makes common, everyday lampshades. In The Lampshade, bestselling journalist Mark Jacobson tells the story of how he came into possession of one of these awful objects, and of his search to establish the origin, and larger meaning, of what can only be described as an icon of terror. Jacobson’s mind-bending historical, moral, and philosophical journey into the recent past and his own soul begins in Hurricane Katrina–ravaged New Orleans. It is only months after the storm, with America’s most romantic city still in tatters, when Skip Henderson, an old friend of Jacobson’s, purchases an item at a rummage sale: a very strange looking and oddly textured lampshade. When he asks what it’s made of, the seller, a man covered with jailhouse tattoos, replies, “That’s made from the skin of Jews.” The price: $35. A few days later, Henderson sends the lampshade to Jacobson, saying, “You’re the journalist, you find out what it is.” The lampshade couldn’t possibly be real, could it? But it is. DNA analysis proves it. This revelation sends Jacobson halfway around the world, to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, where the lampshades were supposedly made on the order of the infamous “Bitch of Buchenwald,” Ilse Koch. From the time he grew up in Queens, New York, in the 1950s, Jacobson has heard stories about the human skin lampshade and knew it to be the ultimate symbol of Nazi cruelty. Now he has one of these things in his house with a DNA report to prove it, and almost everything he finds out about it is contradictory, mysterious, shot through with legend and specious information. Through interviews with forensic experts, famous Holocaust scholars (and deniers), Buchenwald survivors and liberators, and New Orleans thieves and cops, Jacobson gradually comes to see the lampshade as a ghostly illuminator of his own existential status as a Jew, and to understand exactly what that means in the context of human responsibility. One question looms as his search goes on: what to do with the lampshade—this unsettling thing that used to be someone? It is a difficult dilemma to be sure, but far from the last one, since once a lampshade of human skin enters your life, it is very, very hard to forget.

Hundreds of gas, electric, ceiling, and art glass fixtures, and wall and table lamps from the early 1900s are featured in this reprint of selections from the R. Williamson & Company Lamp Catalog. In addition to revising the prices to reflect today's market, Joanne & Francis Thomas have included several pages deleted from the original catalog in our first reprint. A special color section in the book features gas and electric glassware, electric bowls, stalactites, and balls, globes, and candelabra shades and holders.2000 values. REVIEW: This book shows the diversities in products and presentation of pieces by the Fostoria Company, until it closed the factory in Moundsville in 1986. The authors have presented this complex period as simply as possible, providing original company catalog pages and detailed photographs.

Readers will be enlightened by the comprehensive information they'll find in this all-new collector's guide from America's most trusted source, Antique Trader. &break;&break;There are thousands of types of lamps and lighting devices that have been produced over the past 200 years and this new book brings together current pricing information on all the major varieties. &break;&break;Detailed descriptions of 2,000 items, highlighted by more than 300 black and white photos, will provide background on everything from primitive Betty lamps and whale oil lamps through the great variety of Victorian kerosene lamps, as well as colorful and unusual lighting from the first half of the 20th century. &break;&break;Detailed descriptions and photographs &break;&break;Covers lamps from the past 200 years &break;&break;Up-to-date pricing and accurate background for collectors

This text comprises a comprehensive handbook pertaining to the designing and making of vintage lamps and light fixtures. Complete with detailed diagrams and step-by-step instructions for each piece, this text is perfect for both the amateur and seasoned designer alike, and is sure to be of interest to creative types with a penchant for handcrafting. The chapters of this book include: Electric Light Standards, Novelty Table Lamps, Walnut Table Lamp, Octagonal Table Lamp, Oak Table Lamp, Wood Turning-Boring Lamp Standards, Wood Turning, Vase Table Lamp... and many others. This antique book has been chosen for modern republication due to its timeless educational value, and we are proud to republish it now complete with a new introduction on making lampshades.