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We Sing the Eclectic Electric
Don your shades for a close look
at early 20th-century lighting.
By Kathleen Fisher
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Photo Courtesy of Rejuvenation
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If your old house dates from the years "between the wars"
(alternately known as the Depression Era), determining what kind of
light fixtures graced it originally may be baffling. That's because
1925 to 1940 was a design period that echoed the musical of the day-
"Anything Goes." Hip urbanites were enamored of Art Moderne,
a European design trend (eventually rechristened Art Deco) that deliberately
eschewed the past and sometimes mingled with the organic forms of Art
Nouveau. More conservative Americans, however, were going retro. Servicemen
returning from Europe dreamed of romantic chateaus and thatched cottages.
The Colonial Revival and Early American movements were in full swing,
yet you could still see flashes of Victorian influence here and there,
along with medieval and Mediterranean wrought-iron designs. If your
own architecture reflects any of these styles you should have no problem
finding antique or reproduction light fixtures in concert. If it's more
eclectic or bland, one supplier advises, "Buy what you love."
Technological Advances
At the turn of the 20th century, a family with electric lighting was
the envy of its neighborhood. The house was probably adorned with little
more than a ceiling fixture for each room, perhaps some brackets or
sconces converted from gas, and a few table lamps at the end of long,
heavy cords. By 1921, according to the Copper and Brass Research Association,
eight million American houses were wired; five years later, the total
was nearly 14 million. By then most new fixtures had "keyless sockets,"
meaning that users controlled them at a wall switch rather than at the
fixture itself, although you could occasionally still order a fixture
with a pull chain. No longer just utilitarian innovations, light fixtures
were now marketed to address concerns for both style and health. Without
central electricity, Father would have to squint through spectacles
at his book while Junior and Sis stared morosely at the fireplace. Adequate
lighting let happy homebodies pursue the favored activities of the time:
piano playing, card games, knitting, and reading the evening newspaper.
In the mid-'30s literature from the Lightolier Company warned that "much
of the irritability found in so many homes, many nervous or backward
children, a great deal of headaches, nervous disorders, and lowered
vitality-with its diminished resistance to colds and other ills-can
be laid at the door of poor illumination." To help consumers avoid
eyestrain, sellers distinguished between direct, indirect, and semi-indirect
lighting. The Macbeth-Evans Glass Company in Pennsylvania went so far
in its 1933 catalog as to publish photometric analyses of each fixture.
The company claimed that its shades would eliminate "harsh green
tints common to pale yellow tinted glass without the heaviness characteristic
of amber or etched crystal"-just two of the many glass-shade styles
available by then.
A Stylistic Turning Point
Prior to 1925, many light fixtures still bore vestiges of Victorian
ornamentation on both frames (the typically metal bodies) and shades
(if they had any), since they were often patterned on gas fixtures.
Colonial and Early American styles harkened back further, to reindustrialize
oil lamps and candelabras. Dining room chandeliers tended to hang from
multiple chains, often 3´ long, supporting a central bowl, a "shower"
of down-pointing glass shades, or a combination of the two. You could
also opt for pendants with a single chain and lamp (bulb). Many fixtures
employed bare lamps early in this period-either shaped as candle flames
or plain orbs. Round lamps with a tiny point on top began to fade from
the scene about this time. Colonial-style chandeliers and brackets sprouted
small, individual fabric shades to reduce glare. Then in 1925 a world's
fair of art and architecture, the Paris Exposition Internationale des
Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, launched a style that completely
broke tradition with the past in its use of sleek, machine-inspired
shapes. It was often called "moderne" or "modernism"-rarely
"Art Deco," according to one source, until a revival in the
1960s. While pure modernism was based on linear, functional lines, the
French added the floral motifs of Art Nouveau, then American Indian
and Egyptian symbols, such as the ziggurat, inspired by the opening
of Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922. Originally, these fixtures were limited
production European models more likely to be seen in commercial structures
than houses. In the Depression years, however, the Moderne look revolutionized
the design of mass-produced household items, such as radios or lamps,
reflecting the American longing for an aerodynamically improved tomorrow.
Zigzags and other geometric patterns showed up on book jackets and other
printed matter, including lighting catalogs that nevertheless still
offered a heavy dollop of fixtures from yesteryear. The most stunning
Deco fixtures had "slip" or "slipper" glass shades,
mounted on chandeliers, brackets, and occasionally flush ceiling lights.
Slipper shades were well represented in catalogs of the period, although
not so often in houses. Today antique slipper chandeliers cost $1,500
or so and it can be next to impossible to replace broken shades. You
can buy many styles of slipper fixtures as reproductions. Other Moderne-style
glass shades included the "set back" or "stepped back"-an
upside down ziggurat-and "pudding bowl" chandeliers. Luminaries
or Luminators (later called Saturn discs) were round or inverted cones
with metal rings or louvers intended to give them a space-age look.
By the '30s Hollywood movies had become a pervasive influence. Apartment
dwellers not decorating their living rooms to emulate the sophistication
of The Thin Man might be swayed by the exotic locales they saw in pirate
and adventure films like Mutiny on the Bounty. Moorish, Spanish, and
Egyptian motifs were popular. Sailing ships and birds were recurring
themes; one catalog bragged that women invariably went into ecstasies
over its reverse-painted parrot shades.
Flashbacks
While Moderne was embraced by artsy big city dwellers (some called it
"New York style") and Hollywood denizens went "Storybook,"
many of the upper middle class were still second-or even first-generation
Americans. These members of the country club set wanted to cement their
place in society by bowing to well-established fashions-something lighting
suppliers understood. Lightolier decorated pages featuring its "Empire"
style ("inspired by beauty of the past") with sketches of
men in knee breeches and women in gowns. It described other designs
as shining with "the mellow charm of old time oil lamps. "Colonial
Revival fixtures with oil-lamp-style chimneys and wrought- or hammered-
iron frames were still big. Intoned the manufacturer: "There need
never be any apology for the Early American note in home furnishings.
It does not pretend to be something it is not and it has a basic authenticity
of design that puts it on an equal footing with more pretentious periods
of style." Those weary of traditional decoration "yet who
have thoroughly disliked the monstrosities that have masqueraded under
the title 'Moderne' will greet these delightful creations with enthusiasm...The
Lightolier staff has been at great pains to see that beauty was not
sacrificed to novelty, proportion slaughtered for oddity, or comfort
butchered to make a curiosity." For most, though, the M-word could
do no wrong in ad copy. The Gleason-Tiebout Glass Company of Brooklyn,
for instance, hailed the "absence of confining precedent in Modern
Art" in its 1930 catalog, which helped make the point by offering
18 types of glass shades. Crystal could be ordered etched, roughed inside
or out, frosted, or polished. Cased glass was two or more fused layers
of different colored glass, sometimes with the top layer cut to let
the second color better show through. Also popular was crackled glass,
usually amber, chipped to produce a feathery design; opal glass, an
opaque white that glowed with subtle color when lit; satin, named for
its sensuous texture; hand-painted designs; and decalcomania-decals
subjected to high heat. Gill Glass developed "Hyperion" glass
to diffuse the "glittering bayonets" of light produced by
naked bulbs.
Light and Heavy Metals
Novel glass shades weren't the only way to jazz up fixtures. Frames
also got special treatment via texture, color, or both. Meletio Electrical
Supply offered a cut metal pattern called Battenburg, emulating lacework
on linen. The Edward N. Riddle Company of Toledo, Ohio, offered what
it called "estofado" frames, displaying a Spanish-inspired
method of applying primary colors to virgin metals for "a genuinely
antique effect." (Riddle called its fixtures "fitments"
to convince consumers they would be easy to install-and to remove again
when they wanted a fashion change.) Halcolite marketed its heavily ornamented
frames for "the Spanish and English types of home now at the height
of their popularity" as well as to Colonial enthusiasts. Finishes
included bronze, brass, "Swedish iron," pewter highlighted
with gold, and hammered brass. Bronze finishes were sometimes highlighted
with a touch of color, while other frames were polychromed to sparkle
with a variety of hues. Cast aluminum "brought the price down to
a very low and attractive level." Markel, in Omaha, Nebraska, opined
that "The modern manner has found its widest application in the
decoration of bedrooms" and offered a cast metal in green and orchid.
Widely popular for milady's boudoir were fixtures with an ivory background
painted with pink rosebuds and other pastel floral patterns. Porcelain
was a low-maintenance, sanitary finish for bathrooms and kitchens, in
colors as well as white. The polished chrome fixtures with cylindrical
shades that flank so many medicine cabinets made their first appearance
in this period. World War II brought an end to this seemingly contradictory
era, when lighting designers seemed to get more fanciful as bread lines
got longer. Montgomery Ward's 1941 catalog still contained Colonial
etched glass chimneys, slipper shades, and Buck Rogers kitchen-ceiling
fixtures. But it had seen the future, and two of its names were "fluorescent"
and "plastic."
Special thanks to Bo Sullivan of Rejuvenation for sharing his vintage
lighting catalogs. Catalogs of these years have been collected in Lighting
Fixtures of the Depression Era, Vols. 1 and 2, by Jo Ann Thomas, available
from Collector Books. To order call (800) 626-5420, or visit www.collectorbooks.com.
Suppliers
AMERICAN HOME SUPPLY
Reproduction fixtures
(408) 246-1962
ANTIQUE HARDWARE & HOME
Reproduction fixtures and shades
(800) 422-9982
www.antiquehardware.com
H.A. FRAMBURG & COMPANY
Reproduction fixtures
(800) 796-5514
www.framburg.com
HANDELMAN STUDIOS
Traditional handcrafted iron and brass
(805) 962-5119
www.stevenhandelmanstudios.com
HINKLEY LIGHTING
Colonial, Mission, and other reproductions
(800) 446-5539
www.hinkleylighting.com
HISTORICAL LIGHTING
Original and reproduction fixtures, Victorian through
Art Deco
(866) 851-2366
www.historicallighting.com
LUMINARIA LIGHTING INC.
Antique and reproduction fixtures from the late
1800s to the 1940s
(800) 638-5619
www.luminarialighting.com
OLD CALIFORNIA LANTERN COMPANY
Arts & Crafts and "Sutter's Mill" lanterns
(800) 577-6679
www.oldcalifornia.com
ORIGINAL CAST LIGHTING
Reproduction fixtures, restoration services
(314) 863-1895
www.theocl.com
REJUVENATION
Catalog of 300 period fixtures includes 30 new
"Romance Revival"styles from the early 20th century
(888) 343-8548
www.rejuvenation.com
SHADES OF LIGHT
Period fixtures and lamps
(800) 262-6612
www.shadesoflight.com
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