Coal oil lamp business

[mr.elmwood]

Anyone know anything about the buying and selling of oil lamps? I was thinking of branching off into something I knew nothing about, and, was hoping to get thoroughly confused. This is not something I have. This is something i could have.

[realjazz-123]

I see a beautiful array of vintage lamps that  are probably very collectible. Yet I also feel queasy when I think of the fragility of those glass beauties going along a conveyor belt and passing through customs. I stopped selling 78's because no matter how carefully I packed, too many arrived in pieces. However, you being  risk taker may enjoy the thrill and 'risk' with each mailing. I would not. Good luck if you go for it.

[mr.elmwood]

If nothing else, it will be a ride in the countryside in western Manitoba where I am moving to, next month.

[cumos55]

Most, if not all,  of the lamps are what one would characterize as relatively common..

There are a few that look to be  uniquely different....  However, even with a few of these, one would have to see them closeup to determine if they are not reproductions...

Two lamps that may be of interest.... 

The blue lamp is valuable if not a reproduction... The second lamp  depends on the shape of the base and pattern on the base

Also have a finger lamp, upper shelf to the right of the white shade with automobile design on it.

Some of the lamps  might be classified as "Depression Lamps"  , while others  would be modern .....some of the colored lamps...

Some of the lamps would fit into a wall sconce....

Best evaluated in person.... or with close ups...of each lamp

eBay has a lot of oil lamps listed.....

[cumos55]

I have seen these sold at local auctions.... ranging in value from about $35 to $50 each

I have had several of these  but they are gone now.... many sold on eBay....except for a quartet... all four of similar design... including a finger lamp... The four in a line make a nice pattern...

About the same value on eBay.....   

I have sold some spectacular lamps on eBay

Your value is at about $750  in total as a start.....

Western Manitoba will be a great place to live..... but do not live anywhere too close to the Assiniboine River...or any other river ... Has been a painful experience.. This year and in the past... flooding

Have been going to auctions throughout southern Manitoba since about 1980....  and still go to local auctions, close to Winnipeg, ..... where I do find inventory to sell on ebay....That and more...  

Always looking for something of interest  if only to fill up my encyclopedic brain...

[mr.elmwood]

I am moving to Dauphin. Flooding is not a concern. Gray Wolves are.

There are approx 100 lamps at the auction. The pictures are a tad over whelming. A town called San Clara. It could draw from as far as Yorkton and Saskatoon.

Regardless, I wish to get know to the auctioneers.

[cumos55]

Collectors will "kill" each other to get the best of the lamps....  It will  most likely be a seller's market.

My guess is that buying to resell will be a difficult option.....

[mr.elmwood]

Google map where San Clara MB is. I will only be a little over an hour away. Like I say, a drive. I know I will go, you have convinced me.

All in or do not even go.

[cumos55]

I regularly go to an auction in Stonewall just north of Winnipeg.

I had worked several sales, including the sale of firearms,,, and then a few Storage Wars...

My exposure to auctions  started 35 years ago...  and have seen just about everything sold... including the kitchen sink.

My first sales were in the Brandon-Souris-Killarney area....I lived in Winnipeg... so an hour was nothing .. as it was two hours to Brandon

I bought lamps at garage sales  and auction sales  when they could be bought at $5.00 each... sometimes.... These I kept....

Many a clear glass lamp when manufactured  developed a color over time... because of impurities in the glass

Things are very different today... It is very important to know which are the best... the super best  and then the not so good.... and that applies to everything today...

There are just too many people who bid, bid and bid more... just because they want it....

Many years ago there was value for every collectable... and everyone knew what it was.....Overbidding was rare....

A most important part of buying today is ... Buyer beware... Too many reproductions...  that can confuse the market...

and that includes eBay.... 

[mr.elmwood]

That Stonewall auction is scaryf. I went once. They advertise, heavily, get a full house, and whip those folks into a frenzy. They get well above retail. They have a good thing going.

My area is going to be north of Riding Mountain to SK, maybe into Sask.

I have been watching a bit of Antique Roadshow, then and now, 1999 vs 2012. Collectibles do not seem to have done well, barely holding their 1999 value.

These lamps, because of where they are, shouldn't be fakes.

[rose-dee]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:
Collectibles do not seem to have done well, barely holding their 1999 value.

These lamps, because of where they are, shouldn't be fakes.

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I think you're absolutely right on the first score.  You're probably correct on the second as well, although that doesn't necessarily mean these would be a good investment for resale.  From what I can see in your picture, most look a few decades old.  And there are a lot of these old-ish oil lamps around.  Many can't really be used for any practical purposes anymore because of fire or safety hazards, but some people like to turn them into (electric) lamp bases. 

The real problem with old glass is that it's extremely brittle, and gets weaker with time, especially the glass that was used for oil lamps, which tended to be quite thin (hence fragile), to allow more light through.  

I think you'd have two real challenges with shipping these: first, the size of the box and weight of the packing materials required to properly protect most of these would probably put many into the Expedited range to the U.S., which could end up being almost as expensive as the item itself; and second, the fragility and breakability.  Believe it or not, bone china is more resilient than the glass in these lamps. 

You would need to surround each lamp with a complete cushion of scrunched-up paper or foam peanuts, probably in a box at least the size of a banker's box.  And you'd go through a ton of tissue paper or unprinted newsprint to stuff the glass bulbs and wrap them before packing in the protective material.  Bubble wrap doesn't work well on such breakables.  Oh yes, and you'd have to have an endless supply of properly-sized sturdy boxes on hand.

If you were selling them locally, i.e. just handing them over directly to a buyer, you'd probably do OK, but I can't see the value in these lamps on eBay making up for the cost and headaches of shipping.  As Pierre often says, some things just aren't meant for mail order selling.  These might be in that category.  I'd certainly think twice (or thrice) before shelling out a bundle of good cash for the whole lot. 

Just my opinion, but I've dealt with fine china and collectibles in the past, and there just isn't the value or the demand for them as there used to be 15 or 20 years ago.

[mr.elmwood]

Thanks Rose, that was the in-depth of that field I was looking for. Another picture:

[kashka]

A  dealer friend of mine has the stronghold of antiques/collectibles in the Perogie Belt..quite a few dealers around there.I attend the majority of sales in the Dauphin/Swan area...things don't go cheap.Good luck.

[rose-dee]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:

Thanks Rose, that was the in-depth of that field I was looking for. Another picture:

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You're very welcome - hope it was of some help in making a decision. 

From what I can see in your 2nd photo, these are more of the same, ca. 1950's - 1970's lamps.  There was a real craze for oil lamps in the 70's and I see some typical 70's designs on several of these.  They ran on the kind of oil you bought in Canadian Tire in a plastic bottle -- I don't know that it was coal oil, but it was often scented because the oil itself was so volatile and smelly to handle. 

Now if you found true coal or whale-oil lamps from the 19th century, you might have something worth selling, but you'd still be dealing with all the shipping hassles. 

I also wanted to mention that I've seen a lot of these kind of vintage oil lamps in Sally Anns and other thrift shops.  I guess all those old hippies who bought them in the 70's realized how much more convenient and less messy and stinky electric lamps are after all.

[mr.elmwood]

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@kashka wrote:

A  dealer friend of mine has the stronghold of antiques/collectibles in the Perogie Belt..quite a few dealers around there.I attend the majority of sales in the Dauphin/Swan area...things don't go cheap.Good luck.

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57 years in Winnipeg and I do not believe I ever heard that phrase. I mean, I know I am moving to their capital city, Dauphin.

[kashka]

lol...I grew up  and have worked in almost every square inch of the area,hardly a backroad that i have never been on...basically the whole Parkland is a hotbed for the good old taste of the Ukraine.So I would hazard the guess that ,the Babushka Trail would be foreign to you also..

[mr.elmwood]

I am sorry, I am a Scotsman from Winnipeg. I have sinned. Please forgive me.

[cumos55]

Once in Dauphin be ready to become a Ukrainian for a few days each year.

The Dauphin Ukrainian Festival

Better known as 

Canada's national Ukrainian Festival

And get used to seeing special food  that only Ukrainians understand...special music  and unique costumes....  which to many Ukrainians used to be every day dress..  Dance like a Cossack 

Winnipeg was Ukrainian during Folklorama....  Dauphin is something very much different... as are many towns in Manitoba... as well as other other towns throughout Saskatchewan and Alberta.

I am Ukrainian from the word Go... and I did many things  that only a Ukrainian does....  Went to Ukrainian school and played the accordion....   and when very young  I could actual  do that special dance.... call it a squat-kick....  part of a sabre dance...

Toh yeh tak dobre!

[cumos55]

Toh yeh tak dobre! = That is very good!

[mr.elmwood]

I am not unfamiliar with the Ukrainian curse.

A little bit of culture goes a long way. There is virtually none down east. I know of one ex-Bellevillian, ex-Bellevillnite?, who refers to this town as Vanillaville.

Now, I understand Folklorama.