I wasn’t expecting to discover a piece of the past that day. I was, let me be honest, killing time at this Goodwill, sifting through the usual graveyard of soiled mugs, dead mystery cables and the lonely rollerblade that lost its sole mate. You know the scene. But then I saw it — this tall, delicate glass thing with a gold spiral wrapped around its belly. It seems it would be akin to the delicate, blown glass oil lamps of yore.
At first I thought it was a strange champagne flute. You know, one of those “artsy” ones you never really drink from (but keep around to impress those guests you don’t like.) But the top was barely open. You know, a jellybean might be able to squeeze through.” I was standing there holding it, puzzled, when it occurred to me:
It was an oil glass diesels oil lamp. Or part of one — the base of one, lacking both the wick and the little holder part up top. Still, I was kind of in awe.
Back When Light Was More Than Just Flipping a Switch
Blown-glass oil lamps aren’t just pretty, they’re functional art, and they plunge you right into the “good old days” mood. I mean can you imagine illuminating your home with glass quite this fragile and beautiful? No LEDs. No dimmer switches. Nothing but a little flame, wobbling in a hand-blown piece of glass that I imagine was made by someone who gave a damn about what they made. This thing I found? It was gold, with a spiral pattern wrapped around it like a candy cane with class. The glass was ever so slightly uneven, in that cute way that says this wasn’t made by a machine. It seemed like something that belonged in a cozy cabin with creaky floors and a stack of old books, not beside a chipped snow globe and plastic Halloween mug. Admittedly, those blown glass oil lamps have a special charm.
What Makes Blown Glass Oil Lamps So Cool
Fine, so let’s geek out for a minute. Hand blown glass oil lamps were all the rage before electricity came around, and frankly never went out of style. Many were crafted with an eye for beauty — curved glass, swirls of color, sometimes elaborate patterns melted into the glass itself. And being handmade and all, they were all a bit different.
Some of them were even created as “whimsies” — that is, glassblowers taking it easy at the end of a long day, creating whatever struck their fancy from a pile of leftover pieces of glass. Which kind of makes each cool lamp even cooler, right? It’s like having a snapshot of someone’s creativity in your hand. That’s the appeal of blown glass oil lamps.
