Behind the Design | Goodrich Gooseneck Barn Lighting
When the Goodrich Electric Company was founded in 1925, it was a small newcomer in the field of lighting equipment manufacturers. Much like Barn Light Electric, the company enjoyed rapid growth and soon expanded to a larger manufacturing plant to meet the growing demand for its line of porcelain enamel barn lights including outdoor gooseneck lighting.
The 1940 Goodrich catalog, Modern Lighting Equipment, highlighted the product’s quality and durability:
“The metal used in Goodrich porcelain enameled reflectors is of the highest quality, pure ingot iron, known as “enameling iron.” Its production is one of the high points in the steel-maker’s art. This metal has an inherently high resistance to corrosion.”
The Goodrich gooseneck lights were finished with a porcelain enamel coating thick enough for strong protection yet thin enough to ensure high quality reflection. Combining the interior steel shade with an exterior coating of glass, these shades were some of the most durable and longest lasting RLM selections on the market at that time. Goodrich was a charter member of the RLM — the association of Reflector and Lamp Manufacturers — an alliance which set strict specifications for members within the industry.
Back in 2012, the owners of Barn Light Electric revived this lost art of hand crafting porcelain enamel lighting. They purchased a porcelain oven from Italy and had it installed in their Florida manufacturing facility.
Today, metal workers hand spin light shades which are coated with three layers of porcelain enamel glass in much the same way the Goodrich company did it back in the day. These are the same components that gave Goodrich its mass appeal when it launched its first version of the RLM Dome Reflectors in the 1930’s.
Today, Barn Light Electric is a proud American manufacturer of RLM-inspired lights including our entire line of porcelain enamel pendants, gooseneck lights, and wall sconces. Be sure to check out our Photo Gallery for plenty of porcelain enamel inspiration!
