Tag Archives: atomic lamp

1951 Male Reglor Bullfighter Lamp Take Two

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Hepcats Haven

Recently, I decided to replace the light bulb sockets and harps on our Reglor bullfighter lamps. When we originally purchased these lamps, they arrived busted. Fortunately, I was able to restore them. Sometimes, when you restore chalkware lamps that have significant damage, there are hidden weak spots under the surface. When I tried to attach the new bulb socket, the head of the male bullfighter lamp cracked into several pieces. Needless to say, I was completely devastated. For those of you who have restored these lamps might know, it’s a tedious process. Hours of my work literally crumbled in my hands. To make matters worse, upon further examination it appeared that I would be unable to repair the damage.

Once I came to grips with what had happened, I jumped on eBay and was able to purchase a replacement male bullfighter lamp. Fortunately, the seller did not live too far away, and we were able to meet up to pick up the lamp. It’s not often that you can find a same day replacement for a vintage lamp!

That’s not dirt you see, that’s nicotine. You wouldn’t believe how much came off.

The color scheme of the original lamps was orange and brown. These were colors we were never keen on. The lamp we just picked up needed to be repainted, so I took the opportunity to go with a whole new color scheme. The colors I went with are vintage coral and hematite (a graphite color). I think these two colors compliment one another very well.

After about a full day of painting, here is the result.

I decided to add a little more detail to the lamp.

Of course, these aren’t the original lamp shades and we’re not really happy with them. We plan to replace the shades with ones that incorporate the same colors as the lamps.

Here’s the female bullfighter.

This pair compliments our bedroom nicely.

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Large 1951 Tropical Reglor Lamps

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Hepcats Haven

Upon review of our blog, I noticed that I forgot to show the resto on our 1951 Reglor lamps. Sometimes I get too caught up restoring that I forget to blog about the restorations I complete. Below is a before and after of these. I used the same restoration process I have used on other chalkware pieces.

As you can see, they are not in terrible condition, but there is some damage and years of filth built up on the surface.

The female lamp had damage to her waist down to the metal wire.

Here is the repair and repaint of the damage to her waist.

I am pleased how these have been freshened up.

She looks like new now!

I don’t think these are the original Reglor shades, but they work.

On to the next resto!

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Posted in Restorations and tagged 1950's lamps, 50's lamps, atomic lamp, chalkware, chalkware lamp, chalkware lamps, chalkware reglor, hawaiian reglor lamp, Mid century lamp, mid century lamps, midcentury lamps, plaster lamps, Reglor, reglor chalkware, reglor lamp, reglor lamps, reglor of ca, reglor of california, retro lamp, vintage lamp, vintage reglor, vintage reglor lamp. Bookmark the permalink.

Vintage Hawaiian Reglor Lamp Restoration

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Hepcats Haven

REGLOR HISTORY

Bernie Stien and Rena Stien began Reglor of California in 1947. Reglor is the combination of the names Rena and her cousin Gloria. Credit for the design inspirations is to be shared with Oscar Vega, a production assistant. Regular lamps were frequently produced as a male and female pair.The distinctive shades of Reglor lamps were also made in house. Production stopped in 1975 when the Reglor factory in Montebello, California burned down.

REGLOR TROPICAL LAMPS

Mel and I picked these up some time ago. I was hesitant to buy them because the paint was peeling pretty well on the male dancer. I have seen this condition issue before on chalkware lamps, and it had turned me off from purchasing them in the past. I think this happens from the lamp getting wet and the chalk underneath wicking up the water thus causing the paint to lose grip and peel off.

This restoration will be more difficult than the others because it is going to take more to cover up and level up the surfaces.

This is what the damage looks like. The paint bubbles up from the surface. There are numerous spots on the male lamp and a few on the female lamp.

To help break loose the bubbling paint I used a safety pin to get under the paint and break it off.

The next step was to apply the spackle on the edges where the paint loss was and let it dry.

Once dry I blended the edges into the surrounding area to level out the surface.

I choose seafoam green paint for the main body of the lamps and stuck with the brown color for the exposed body parts.

These are the last of the tropical lamps that needed to be restored.

These will look great in the Tiki Room! On to the next restoration!

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Posted in Restorations and tagged 1950's lamps, 50's lamps, atomic lamp, chalkware, chalkware lamp, chalkware lamps, chalkware reglor, hawaiian reglor lamp, Mid century lamp, mid century lamps, midcentury lamps, plater lamp, Reglor, reglor chalkware, reglor lamp, reglor lamps, reglor of ca, reglor of california, retro lamp, vintage lamp, vintage reglor, vintage reglor lamp. Bookmark the permalink.

Fantastic Moss Lamp Trade

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Hepcats Haven

One day Mel and I were in the garage of our new home and a friendly face drove up and stopped right in front of our house. It was our friend Tom who Mel and I originally met at The Antique Company in Sacramento. Tom is such a socialite and he was soo eager to see the home we had just moved into. While we were showing him around he saw our oak leaf floor lamp.

Leaf Wire Lamp

When Tom saw this lamp he froze, turned to us and said, “I have the matching table lamps to that oak leaf floor lamp”. When he got home he texted over pics of the table lamps.

Tom suggested that we trade our floor lamp to complete his set for a Moss floor lamp he had. We were a little skeptical and also lamp heavy so we said we’d consider the trade after seeing his Moss lamp. Once he brought the Moss lamp over Mel and I were sold!

The lamp shade on this lamp is fantastic! The lamp has these cool Lucite rods that flank the brass center. The black bowl in the middle is a planter. This piece makes quite a statement in the room.

This shade has a great art deco pattern and is in amazing shape.

This lamp really goes well with the dancing Carlo of Hollywood pieces behind it.

This lamp will be a great companion to our pink butterfly frieze chair. We are so grateful to Tom for his trade and I think both parties are happy with the exchange.

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Posted in The Makin's Of Our Pad and tagged 50's lamp, 50's lighting, atomic lamp, atomic lighting, fifties lamp, fifties lighting, lucite floor lamp, Lucite Lamp, lucite light, Mid century lamp, Mid Century Lighting, moss floor lamp, moss lamp, moss lamps, moss light, retro lamp, Retro Lighting, vintage lamp, VIntage Lighting. Bookmark the permalink.

Tropical Reglor Lamps

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Hepcats Haven

Since Mel and I moved into a fifties ranch style home we have been hard at work making it our own. We are fortunate that this home has a lanai and we decided to make that our tiki room. Since we moved from an almost 5,000 sq. ft. home to an almost 1,800 sq. ft. home, we have had to re-evaluate our collection and keep what we think is the best of our collection. It makes it hard when you find new treasures such as these great Reglor Hawaiian lamps.

I was unaware that Reglor produced two different Hawaiian lamp sets. Both of these sets are breathtaking and the use of chartreuse makes them that much more atomic!

As far as chalkware lamps go, I have always had an appreciation for what Reglor produced.

This set is in great overall condition considering its age. I am guessing this set was produced sometime in the late 40’s or early 50’s. Usualy Reglor produced lamps with a thick base and this set has a thin base.

This set has some condition issues as you can see. My approach to repair the peeling paint is to remove as much of it as possible. After the peeling paint is removed you have to feather out the edge of the remaining paint into the body of the lamp. This will help make the repair look seamless when painted.

Here is our other freshly acquired 1951 Reglor set. We stumbled across these lamps while cruising Craigslist. These are larger than the other set.

The only issue with this set is that the Hawaiian girl has a crack at her waist. I will repair the crack with my usual process.

These two sets will really help make our tiki room that much more cooler. Once we get the house the way we like it we will make sure to showcase it in a future blog.

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Posted in Restorations, The Makin's Of Our Pad and tagged 1950's lamps, 50's lamps, atomic lamp, chalkware, chalkware lamp, chalkware lamps, chalkware reglor, hawaiian reglor lamp, Mid century lamp, mid century lamps, midcentury lamps, plater lamp, Reglor, reglor chalkware, reglor lamp, reglor lamps, reglor of ca, reglor of california, retro lamp, vintage lamp, vintage reglor, vintage reglor lamp. Bookmark the permalink.

Here Are A Few New Things

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Hepcats Haven

Mel and I have been so busy trying to keep our store stocked. We have driven all over northern California looking for things we think are cool. Of course, not everything we buy is for the store. After all, we are collectors before we are dealers. The above piece is a new James Bunnell jungle cat we acquired. We have a few of his jungle cats now (jungle cat 1, Jungle cat 2, jungle cat 3)

Here we have a fantastic 1959 Lane swan and ballerina tv lamp. This will look great near a ballerina Carlo of Hollywood. We picked this up from Rusty Relics and Funky Finds in Midway Mall.

We have been lucky as far as Tiki goes. Here are some pieces we picked up to add to our collection.

While at Midway Mall, we also picked up these killer lamps. We already have one, so this will make a set of three. We also acquired another set of six band rattan that I will pick up this Saturday. It will need upholstery and some restoring but it will be well worth it. I will have pictures soon.

This is a really cool bowl made by Trader Dick’s.

This set is so vibrant we could not pass it up. The hibiscus flowers look so cool.

This is a menu cover used on the Matson Lines cruise ships and was painted by Eugene Savage (1883-1978). I plan to get this framed with a bamboo frame.

This book is a trip. It is bound in leather and has that fantastic image on the front. This book was released in 1960 and covers the history of Hawaii.

Here is one of the most atomic looking televisions ever made. This is a 1971 Panasonic Orbital television.

Here is what the original ad looked like and here is also the television commercial.

This one works but has a few cosmetic issues, nothing major.

This unit just screams Mad Men. I love the styling and the sleekness of it. This would look great sitting on a shelf on a wall unit. This was given to us by our new friend Jenn. She’s proof that there are still good people out there :). Thanks Jenn, this will stay in our collection.

This Panasonic will need a little work on the veneer, but overall it is in fantastic shape. I still need to check the functionality of the unit.

This is an unmarked/un-engraved trophy that we came across. I plan to clean it up and see what unique inscription we could add to it.

This set is so fun. We love the colors and think it will dress up any bar top.

Each piece has wear, but I like them the way they are.

We also received this popcorn ceramic figurine set in the mail from one of our blog readers Dena (JuicyLucyVintage). She gave this to us as a gift and we are soo thankful. Click here to check out her Etsy store.

This is a fantastic mid-century Detecto scale. We love the color combination.

This Jeco Electric clock is rather large and has a great Mid Century feel to it. Picking has been going well for us lately and we hope the momentum keeps up!

Mid Century Oak Leaf Floor Lamp

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Hepcats Haven

Mel and I picked this up recently and we were not sure if we were gonna keep it once reassembled. Little did we know how cool it was until our efforts were completed.

This is a floor lamp that stands almost 4ft tall. When we got it, all it had was what is pictured. It was also missing its mogul socket. I went to a local lighting store and was able to find all I needed to get this lamp back in action. I tried to find a makers mark and had no luck. I also searched online for a similar lamp and was unsuccessful as well.

This is where the mogul socket should have been. The mogul socket allows you to use a glass diffuser.

With the mogul replaced, I could then reassemble the upper portion of the lamp. The great thing is Mel and I already had a shade that matched it, so it was soo easy making this look good.