We have all been taught the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle and in today’s view you’re pretty cool if you’re on board with the worldwide Go Green campaign! Once seen as an expensive burden to communities, is now an everyday, fairly low cost plan in place to help save our environment.
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Providing that finished look in your kitchen can prove to be a challenge when it comes down to picking the right look for your project. Most newly crafted lights are too polished with brightly colored high-gloss finishes, which can be great if your kitchen is modeled with a retro decor, but if your tastes are more for rustic or industrial styles then the options are greatly reduced. With so many lights on the market, unless your desire is for a pendant that looks like wood or a woven tapestry of antlers, the options can be limited for the rustic decorator.
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Originally suited for lighting machine shops, power plants, and shipping departments, the classic industrial shape and function of the Deep Bowl Pendant serves as a hallmark to mid-20th century RLM lighting innovation. This particular fixture was created to collect and focus an evenly distributed spread of light over workers and benches positioned below its deep dome reflector. As the Deep Bowl and other RLM models’ reputation spread throughout factories, various lighting manufacturers began to produce versions of these popular industrial lights. Companies such as Westinghouse, Appleton, and Benjamin® began to produce pendant lighting following this deep reflector design with subtle variations to this beloved performance driven light.
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At the beginning of the 1930s a shift from industrial lights which hung over individual workbenches began to be replaced by its newly designed replacement, which became known as RLM Warehouse Shades. Due to its popularity several manufacturing companies began to produce this highly effective warehouse, factory light that used its uniquely original design to deliver a wide span of light. Companies such as Benjamin®, Crouse-Hinds, Appleton, and the Miller Company created differing variations to the traditional design that catered to different demands; some creating explosion proof versions for differing applications.
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The lighting in factories and manufacturing facilities of the early 1900’s was simplistic and functional, based primarily on low hanging trouble lights with protective wire guards that encased the bulb. This raw, simplistic design enabled a large amount of atmospheric lighting to spill out over workbenches and assembly lines in these industrial settings. With the development of traditional warehouse RLM lighting in the 1930’s, these typical lights were ultimately phased out in many facilities for reflective warehouse shades. In a sweeping attempt to recapture the simplistic nature of the Second Industrial Revolution, many homeowners and designers are turning to the minimalistic lights of the past to bring a unique retro personality to their projects. Reflecting this simplified mantra, the latest line of Vintage Industrial Ceiling Lighting captures the stripped down appearance of factory lighting that predates the great depression. Outfitted with a stem or twisted cotton cord, the lights in this section provide a rustic alternative to many of the mass-produced contemporary lights on the market. Used to highlight displays or supply ornamental decoration, the utility of these lights often leads to creative placement and uses. Whether outfitted with a wire cage or bare socket these vintage reproductions capture the spirit of the Industrial Era, delivering a touch of nostalgia with unique simple styling.
The pursuit to create classic lighting from remnants of the past, reflecting a vintage industrial influence with historic charm, remains as the main objective here at Barn Light Electric. While providing the highest level of quality, our American made lighting draws inspiration from light designs originally manufactured in the early to mid 1900’s, recreating a period of innovation and creativity. The Second Industrial Revolution saw truly creative lighting designs developed for manufacturing facilities, shops, and factories that focused on maximum performance and simplified elegance. Representative of this movement, the Minimalist Copper Cage Pendant personifies the simplistic beauty of this genre through the single copper socket design and optional cage that surrounds the bulb. This vintage throwback is reminiscent of many of the factory ceiling and desk lights that were outfitted with an encapsulated wire cage that served as a protecting feature in an industrial setting. Another unique difference that differs from its predecessor is that the socket and canopy on the Minimalist Copper Pendant is composed of copper instead of brass. Replacing the solid flexible conduit and single rubber electrical cord is a cotton twist cord, which provides a stylistic difference to the traditional way in which this light was originally hung. Adding the finishing touch to this fixture is the ability to use a Nostalgic Edison Bulb with a squirrel cage filament, completing the historic appearance of this pendant.
