Lamp Link: Lamp History and Fan Mail

Table lamp from Aladdin Lamp Co., from Etsy Seller Klassyglassandmore.

It's one of the few times readers will see me feature a yellow lamp, since yellow isn't always my favorite color. But ain't she pretty? Couldn't you just see this in your grandma's bedroom? Exactly. This one's part of a pair of Aladdin alacite glass lamps for sale on Etsy by seller Klassyglassandmore. 

I picked out this lamp in particular as this week's feature link because I got some fan mail. Okay, not really. It probably doesn't count as "fan mail," because it was from my Dad. Hi, Dad! (waves). But he reads my blog, cheers me on, and in one instance helped out as the history buff he is by correcting an overlooked fact error (which just proved to me that I should not be writing blog posts at 3 a.m.)

Dad sent me the clipping of a story that ran recently in the Springfield, Missouri News-Leader about a lady who collects vintage lamps made by the Aladdin Lamp Company. A LOT of lamps. The reporter doesn't mention in the article exactly how many (telling details, writers!), but even making a rough count of what I could see in the published photos, there were dozens and dozens. 

I don't have it that bad for lamps--yet. I have this requirement that I have some need for lighting before I allow my affection for old lamps to run amok. This obviously lovely woman was selling her collection at the National Association of Aladdin Lamp Collector's 23rd Annual International Antique Lamp Show and Sale, which is going to be hosted in Springfield August 3 and 4. The article is also a very nice overview about the history of this particular lamp company. In the larger picture we often have so little history about older small domestic manufactured goods like lamps, and so few were labeled, it's good to know we have a this knowledge base from all the devoted Aladdin collectors. The link to the article in the News-Leader is here if you're interested in learning more. Anybody reading close enough to Springfield to hop in for a peek?