What is the story behind the green desk lamp that appears on film so often? Who made green banker lamps?
The official name of this lamp is the Emeralite Desk Lamp, which is also widely known as the Bankers Lamp. The inventor is Harrison D. McFaddin, who made various types of lamps. The signature feature of his lamps is the emerald green lampshade, known as the Emerald Shades. He established the H.G. McFaddin & Co. company to produce this type of lamp. The main factory was located in the city of Rapotin, Moravia, which is now part of the Czech Republic.
Below is an image of the company's early logo:
The earliest Bellova and Emeralite lamps were born in 1909. On May 11th of the same year, they obtained the original appearance patent in the United States (patent number 39984), and they were produced for 50 years. The glass factory of J. Schreiber & Neffen specialized in producing the lampshade for this lamp.
It is said that many bankers who work late into the night liked this lamp, hence it is also called the banker's lamp.
The production period of the Emeralite lamp is mainly divided into the following four periods (rough time distinction):
The 4378 series from 1909 to 1916
The 8734 series from 1916 to the 1930s
The 9th series starting in the 1930s, which was produced for less than five years.
A new series starting in the 1930s (this series is not favored by collectors because it began to use metal lampshade and fluorescent lamps, and its collection value is not as attractive as before the war)
Company History (For a detailed history, you can visit here: Emeralite and Bellova):
In 1939, the founder wanted to retire, and then the company was acquired by an employee named Charles Inness Brown and was renamed The Emeralite Co., Inc. The production direction also shifted from the collectible art lamps of Emeralite and Bellova to more modern models, but naturally, it also lost its original value. By the 1950s, the company's profits were very problematic. After Inness-Brown died in 1960, the company was transferred again, and the company was renamed once more to Tilarem, Inc. (which is the original company name with the first and last letters removed and then reversed, quite creative~). By 1962, the company was completely dissolved. It became history.
However, there are not many well-preserved Emeralite lamps in the world, and they have gradually become popular with collectors, especially the early 4378 series, which is extremely precious (it is said that you can find it in the American flea market).
In simple terms, the characteristics of this lamp are: brass frame and base, emerald green glass lampshade (the inside of the lampshade is white or milky white).
Early promotional advertisements:
The appearance that applied for a patent:
The 8743 series:
Placed on the piano 8743:
Libraries like to use this:
Later advertisements:
Speaking of this, it is not difficult to understand why this type of lamp is easy to see in film and television works.
