Posted 12 years ago
CindyLou
(1 item)
I have four of these lights. I have tried and tried to find something out about them but I cannot find anything similar to them on the internet. Thay weigh about 100 lbs and I believe they are copper. They are about 3 feet tall or a little more. There are bulbs that go around the top and then a huge bulb that goes in the bottom. They look like possible theater lights or something like that. There are four wires that come out the top so that leads me to believe that maybe the top lights were on a different circuit than the bottom light. Other than that.... I dont know a thing. Please help if you can.
The only thing I can tell you is that the main bulb socket would probably be a Mogul E39 ( 39mm ) quite possibly 220 volt, 1500 watt was one of the sizes commonly used.
the interior definitely reminds me of the bright lights used in stadiums or indoor gyms - I would guess these came from an old school/college gymnasium from the 1910s or 20s.
Thanks for the input! I found them in a barn on a piece of property we bought south of Dallas. It is in a small town surrounded by small towns. The closest big train station would have been in Dallas I guess. They had to have been in high ceilings because I imagine they were pretty bright and probably put off a lot of heat. I'm going to look at school gyms too and see if I can find any vintage photos on line.
The detail on the top makes me think that these would have been visible from an upper level, balcony, upper floors of an atrium.
I agree with Rob - unless they were very high from the gym court, they would probably need protection for the bulbs...really neat fixtures though!
The bottom did have some sort of protection but the bulbs around the top did not. I just wish I could find something similar! Lol. It's driving me crazy trying to figure this out....
Can you add a picture of the protective cover?
How many sockets around the top?
I added the pic with the protective cover. It was on a hinge that would open to change bulb I'm guessing. I just have it leaned up there but it fits in the circular area.
OK, now I'm back to thinking gymnasium :) I wonder if there was another piece around the top portion to protect those horizontal bulbs?
I dont think so, I have four of them and none of them have a protective covering for the top part or any evidence that something else should be there. There are 14 exterior bulbs.
You might have luck going to the Dallas public Library, these could be custom pieces.
Look for any archived items from Architectural collection, the Denver library has 1000 drawings for custom pieces, from one Architectural firm. As well as interior photo's of large commercial buildings from the early 20th century.