ablarc
January 17th, 2009, 11:00 AM
WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE TIFFANY LAMPS?
Time was, you couldn’t have a hip dating bar without stained glass Tiffany lamps. Their opulent glowing colors conjured hopes of belle-epoque assignations and girls in red velvet swings; and they worked like candle flames for the lonelyhearted on the make.
The lamps weren’t actually made by Tiffany; then as now that would have made them cost thousands. These days you can get real stained glass lamps from China, but back then there was an embargo, so those lamps must have been labeled “Taiwan” or “Hong Kong”. Or maybe they were made by hippies in Vermont or the Village.
But they were otherwise pretty genuine. The glass was glass and glowed richly; and the lead was real too; and every lamp was different from every other. They were genuine craftworks.
There were also cheap plastic knock-offs, but bars with these obvious impostors failed to prosper and went bust after a season or two --no matter how profligate the sawdust or peanut shells a hopeful saloonkeeper might throw on the floor. There was just no substitute for the real thing.
Nowadays you’re hard pressed to find a bar anywhere with these swank and florid reminders of times long gone.
What happened to all those lamps?
Time was, you couldn’t have a hip dating bar without stained glass Tiffany lamps. Their opulent glowing colors conjured hopes of belle-epoque assignations and girls in red velvet swings; and they worked like candle flames for the lonelyhearted on the make.
The lamps weren’t actually made by Tiffany; then as now that would have made them cost thousands. These days you can get real stained glass lamps from China, but back then there was an embargo, so those lamps must have been labeled “Taiwan” or “Hong Kong”. Or maybe they were made by hippies in Vermont or the Village.
But they were otherwise pretty genuine. The glass was glass and glowed richly; and the lead was real too; and every lamp was different from every other. They were genuine craftworks.
There were also cheap plastic knock-offs, but bars with these obvious impostors failed to prosper and went bust after a season or two --no matter how profligate the sawdust or peanut shells a hopeful saloonkeeper might throw on the floor. There was just no substitute for the real thing.
Nowadays you’re hard pressed to find a bar anywhere with these swank and florid reminders of times long gone.
What happened to all those lamps?