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. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingZounds
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 ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. The finish was original, in good condition, but very dirty. It took some effort to clean the finish without harming it. The wiring is all new of course, and cloth-covered like the…
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingRescuing Beauty
My online vintage lighting store. I was looking at an early all-electric ceiling pendant on eBay, debating if I should bid on it. It was very nice but I worried that I did not have the right shades for it. Reading the listing I was suddenly horrified. The seller was willing to part the fixture…
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 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 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 ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My two favorite lighting companies are Lightolier and Lion Electric. The former is well known and highly regarded for its quality and extraordinary designs – and high prices! But Lion Electric actually surpassed Lightolier in each respect. Their designs were nothing less than mind-boggling and their fixtures commanded a…
Continue ReadingA Long Awaited Pleasure
My online vintage lighting store. For many years, in storage, I had an almost complete 1940s chandelier by Lightolier. Almost being the operative word. For, all the parts were there…save the glass shade. I knew what the shade looked like, luckily, so years and years passed by as I searched and searched for the errant shade….
Continue ReadingA Silver Blue DUPLEXALITE
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingAnd It’s RED!
My online vintage lighting store. If you have a home built in the 1940s, or early 1950s, this would be an ideal fixture for your foyer, hall, or small bedroom. The fixture is post-Deco and post-Moderne, but pre-Sputnik, and pre “Atomic Age”. The fixture, thus, is from a period Which-Has-No-Name. When people buy a…
Continue ReadingA Luscious Lilac from Linda
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingKitty Approved
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue Reading