I have been restoring vintage lights since I was a teenager in the mid-1970s. An Interstate highway was being rammed through the city where I lived, and I ran (steps ahead of the bulldozers, and with my shag haircut flying) from one incredible building to another, and from one incredible house to another, and salvaged everything I could.
My poor, bewildered parents. Their garage was soon chock-a-block with what I thought were treasures beyond compare. But which they thought was just useless flotsam. I did though once overhear my mom say: “Well, at least he’s not out doing drugs.”
However, when all their boring lights were systematically replaced with the most stunning lights they had ever seen – and all for free, rewired, and restored – they soon had second thoughts about the flotsam. (I paid for new parts by mowing lawns!)
Fast forward many decades.
One day I realized I had a pile of old lights rusting away in my basement. I hauled a few out, restored them (bringing back many old memories), and listed them on eBay.
At the time I had no idea, not a clue, that I had just radically changed my life.
Within months my life was unrecognizable, and I was working full time restoring vintage lighting and selling the fixtures across America.
My new e-commerce website is now online. Whoee! Please feel free to shop and purchase here:
My blog post are below.
Before. After.
My online vintage lighting store. The pendants are ideal for a home built in the late 1890s or through to, say, 1910. I only but gently polished the brass so as to protect the luscious patina. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingSomething Rare. And Modern.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingA Petite Knock-Out
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingAn Elusive Kitchen Pair!
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingA 1940s Silver Beauty
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingYet MORE Virden Winthrops!
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingAnother Virden WINTHROP!
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingSad Virden. Sweet Virdens.
From the 1920s through to the 1970s, one of the most successful lighting manufacturers was the the John C. Virden Company. Virden was Canadian-based, at 19 Curity Ave in Toronto, but had a large factory in Ohio. From Abandoned: Virden was the third largest among the nation’s 1,400 fixture manufacturers by 1968, with production tripling…
Continue ReadingThanks, Carl!
Last week I received an email with some images. The email was from my friend Carl, who lives in Wichita. He came across a light in an antique store. He didn’t like but thought I would. My reply? BUY IT!!!!!!!! My online vintage lighting store.
Continue Reading1970s Glamour!
My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingSomething Quite Extraordinary
My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingAnd More!
My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingA DUPLEXALITE Before After!
Today, I listed an extraordinary brass Duplexalite! But what, you may ask, is a Duplexalite? The Duplexalite Company had a standard model (from top to bottom): Ceiling canopy. Chain. Socket housing. Three thin arms which hold a metal shade and a glass shade. Large metal shade. Bottom glass shade. This shade hangs below the metal…
Continue ReadingAstonishing Sconces
There was a lighting company during the 1920s and 1930s called Riddle. Of Toledo, Ohio. They sold a LOT of lighting. But I know almost nothing about them even though I have sold a lot of Riddle fixtures over the years. I thought I had seen all the fixtures Riddle produced over the decades so…
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