Kitchen photo: Copyright Kit Latham.
One of the highlights of my recent visit to Rejuvenation Lighting in Portland was when historian Bo Sullivan was able to – immediately – identify the vintage pulldown light over my kitchen table. I don’t think I’ve told this story before: One Friday afternoon after a hard day’s work — when I was driving home – I got the idea that I needed a vintage light NOW. This was when I was putting the final details of my kitchen together before contractor Kevin started. So as soon as I got home, I jumped on ebay and with 12 minutes to go spotted the light shown here above the tulip table. Of course, I snapped it up – for $12. Bo knows lighting – he knew exactly who made the light and showed it to me in a catalog —>
Ta da!: It’s a 1959 Imperialite, made by Emerson-Imperial.
The date on this catalog is Sept. 15, 1959. Hey, my light is 50 years old this year: Like Barbie, and me!
This light – which I spotted on ebay last year – was on the same page with my light, in the catalog:
Aren’t these all swoon-able?
Here’s Bo with another catalog. Over the past 15 years, Bo has been collecting vintage marketing material from 20th century lighting companies. The collection is AMAZING. Rejuvenation is in the process of moving the collection from the factory… over to the store. There, it will be accessible to customers as a research and inspiration resource. And guess what – there’s a latte bar at the store, too. Now, that’s all I need to be happy: Good coffee… and a million vintage lighting catalogs. Bo, are you sure I’m invited back? I’ll never leave! Thank you again for sharing your knowledge. More Rejuvenation posts to come…
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! Those are swoonable.
I recently acquired a similar and would love to no more about it.
Pam,
That’s so great that he could identify your light for you and I love it! I found one to go in my dining room for our renovation project as well but I think I need to have it rewired; did yours have the original wiring and did you use it? I think it might cost me a fortune to have it rewired and I got it, too, for a song for $8.00 at a church yard sale…Let me know about the wiring..
FYI, Milster, a local (Portland) lighting repair place quoted us “around $40-$60,” to rewire a pull-down lamp. Not a fortune, but unlike Pam, we lost the eBay auction so we haven’t yet verified the quote.
That Bo Sullivan is good! I loved that he identified it using the scalloped metal edge of the shade!
Milster, as my main focus is on aesthetics and new products rather than fix-it advice, I recommend consultation with qualified experts / professionals for questions like this one… Also note that I understand that there may be a problem with pulldown fixtures meeting current UL standards – and even more reason to talk to an expert. Good luck.
That is one beautiful light, Pam! Yes, I have 2 of these that I bought on Ebay. One is copper, the other is brass. The average price for these lights was about $15,00 (rough estimate) brand new (I have a 1957 Sears catalog and these lamps were listed between $12.97 to $21.97 and they had an assortment to choose from). There is a man in our community who does lamp/light repairs and he told us that he has repaired a lot of these lights from homeowners in our area. Fortunately, both of my lights don’t need repairs of any kind; I just have to have my husband install them.
Bo know lighting, that’s for sure! We have a similar pull down light in our family room. It was a house warming gift from our super generous pals at Sputnik Housewares. I was going to have it rewired, but was told by the guy at HippoHardware that the pull-down mechanism isn’t code anymore and he wouldn’t touch it. I think maybe he just didn’t want to do it. We hung it up anyway and it’s working perfectly! Here’s a pic:
Thanks for the info Jane & Pam; I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll most likely have it rewired so I don’t worry about my house catchin’ on fire while I’m out looking for more treasures. Better to be safe than sorry and we have a good source here who I can go to. I was, just for a moment, entertaining the thought of saving a few bucks, but not worth the worry in the long run.
Thanks, Steve. Sorry – this particular blog installation does not allow for uploaded photos but you can link if it’s on flickr or picasaweb or whatever. Alternatively, send me a photo direction on my gmail account. Would love to see your light!
Wouldn’t it be great if he could put those catalogs online!
So cool! My husband and I love “establishing provenance” (as we refer to it). Finding something that you have in your home, in a vintage magazine or catalog is like making a tangible connection with the past!
PS: Does Bo have the coolest job in the world or what?!
Establishing provenance IS fun! Part of the interest for me in the mid-century modern era is learning about the designers, the manufacturers, and the history of the era.
Just yesterday I picked up my pull-down light from the repair shop. I bought the lamp from eBay, and it was supposed to be in fine working order, but when I received it, the retractable cord didn’t work. Cost $75 to fix (which I thought was a little high). But I’m happy that I’ll be able to get it put up in my dining room this weekend. I’ll send Pam a pic, as I haven’t seen any lamp like this before. Gee, maybe Bo knows something about it…Bo, are you reading the blog??
Bo here – sorry, not so blog saavy. Feel free to send me a picture of your light and I’ll share anything I can about it. bo@arcalus.com
Welcome, Bo! Personally, I think you should ask for a donation for every ID to go toward growing your collection!
Can anyone tell me where I can find a replacement glass shade/diffuser for this Imperialite fixture? The glass has a crack that I am sure will eventually break through.
http://skitch.com/terrygregory/bqhm8/imperialite
Thanks
Terry, there is an FAQ on this, and I have also added a link to the answer on to the Fast & Easy Lighting page.
how cool! thanks so much for passing this link along — it’s so fun to see the original catalog! did you need to use anything to clean yours up? ours could use a little polishing…
alston, my light has a light coppertone finish. it was in great shape. remember: these were not necessarily all gold-tone. as i said, mine has a reddish-gold coppertone look. it may be that yours is meant to be that way, too.