Century year question.

[Jim]

Hi, I recently added a green Century to my collection and I've noticed it has more light pinholes in the Starlite base than my other two. I've been told the red lamp is from the 60s (though I'm not sure) and I know the blue was made in 1990, but I'm really curious about the green lamp. Can anyone help me identify the year the green lamp was made (and the red one as well if possible.) I'd really appreciate any insight. Thanks!

[Keith]

Nice lamps!  I can't speak to when the green was made based on number of light holes but others can.  There may be a couple of ways to determine when made though.  One is to take the globe and turn upside down, look to see if there is a date imprint in the bottom of the globe.  Sometimes it's there, sometimes not.  Another way is to look through the glass into the cap area.  There should be identification labels there if the globe has not ever been opened.  This should have a date on one of the labels (sometimes there is only a single label).  Here is an example of a cap that has been removed that has the labels still attached.  (not my pic)

[Modulo '70]

Cool info. I like the idea of determining the years of production and the discovery perhaps of the differing pin hole number in the starlight bases.

[Jim]

Thanks Keith. That really is great info. I had no idea. I'll give the bottom of the globe a shot after my lamps cool down. If I don't see a date there maybe, if I'm feeling confident enough, I'll try to remove the caps without cracking them. I appreciate it.
Keith said:

Nice lamps!  I can't speak to when the green was made based on number of light holes but others can.  There may be a couple of ways to determine when made though.  One is to take the globe and turn upside down, look to see if there is a date imprint in the bottom of the globe.  Sometimes it's there, sometimes not.  Another way is to look through the glass into the cap area.  There should be identification labels there if the globe has not ever been opened.  This should have a date on one of the labels (sometimes there is only a single label).  Here is an example of a cap that has been removed that has the labels still attached.  (not my pic)

[Keith]

You should be able to see the labels without removing the caps by tilting the globe and looking through the glass.  If you do remove the caps DON'T use tools or you could crack the cap.

Jim said:

Thanks Keith. That really is great info. I had no idea. I'll give the bottom of the globe a shot after my lamps cool down. If I don't see a date there maybe, if I'm feeling confident enough, I'll try to remove the caps without cracking them. I appreciate it.
Keith said:

Nice lamps!  I can't speak to when the green was made based on number of light holes but others can.  There may be a couple of ways to determine when made though.  One is to take the globe and turn upside down, look to see if there is a date imprint in the bottom of the globe.  Sometimes it's there, sometimes not.  Another way is to look through the glass into the cap area.  There should be identification labels there if the globe has not ever been opened.  This should have a date on one of the labels (sometimes there is only a single label).  Here is an example of a cap that has been removed that has the labels still attached.  (not my pic)

[Jim]

It's interesting, I would've never thought about the amount of pinholes but when I got the green one and I started looking around, there weren't any others quite like it. I haven't had any luck finding any reference to pinhole numbers anywhere online. It'll be interesting to see if anyone else has some insight.  

Modulo '70 said:

Cool info. I like the idea of determining the years of production and the discovery perhaps of the differing pin hole number in the starlight bases.

[Jim]

Ah, okay. I'll definitely look tomorrow then. Thanks again!

Keith said:

You should be able to see the labels without removing the caps by tilting the globe and looking through the glass.  If you do remove the caps DON'T use tools or you could crack the cap.

Jim said:

Thanks Keith. That really is great info. I had no idea. I'll give the bottom of the globe a shot after my lamps cool down. If I don't see a date there maybe, if I'm feeling confident enough, I'll try to remove the caps without cracking them. I appreciate it.
Keith said:

Nice lamps!  I can't speak to when the green was made based on number of light holes but others can.  There may be a couple of ways to determine when made though.  One is to take the globe and turn upside down, look to see if there is a date imprint in the bottom of the globe.  Sometimes it's there, sometimes not.  Another way is to look through the glass into the cap area.  There should be identification labels there if the globe has not ever been opened.  This should have a date on one of the labels (sometimes there is only a single label).  Here is an example of a cap that has been removed that has the labels still attached.  (not my pic)

[Keith]

I found some information you will be interested in, especially Jonas Clark-Elliott's comment.  A good chance the green is from the early 70's.  (I wanted to say that anyway but was unsure.  This particular post kept rattling around in my head so I had to find it, lol)

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/century-bases-they-are-diffe...

[Jim]

Pretty interesting. The seller of the green one told me he had it for "thirty, probably forty years" so that would make sense that it's an early 70's model. 

I did a quick measurement on all three, and it looks like the base on the green lamp and the base on the blue come in at just over seven inches, while the red is just a hair under seven. So now I need to cross check all of that, though I think that means the red was made in the 70's (having problems seeing what's under the cap.)

Keith said:

I found some information you will be interested in, especially Jonas Clark-Elliott's comment.  A good chance the green is from the early 70's.  (I wanted to say that anyway but was unsure.  This particular post kept rattling around in my head so I had to find it, lol)

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/century-bases-they-are-diffe...

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

More holes are on 1960s models, which usually (but not always) have two other characteristics: a copper finish, and a two-piece construction where the upper cone is attached to an inner cylinder which can be slid (partially) out.

[Galaxy_9]

From my personal collecting and observation:

late 60's (two part base) - very slight spacing between every 2 vertical rows of holes. 1971, and 73 - rows of holes almost evenly spaced. 1977 on - much more spaced every 2 rows. The spun metal got thicker and can be seen around the top lip where it meets with globe. Black footed platform became little thinner. All those details late 70's continued through 80's, 90's, early 00s.

The time in between these years 73 to 77 I can't speak for.

Early 70s centuries sometimes have a yellow date stamp on bottom of black plastic foot. Can't always read them. Sometimes a white cord too.

I have one two part century mid to late 60s that comes apart like Jonas mentioned (no screw in bottom holding together). The "copper" finish is very light. I also have another two part base that is silver I assume faded, but the footed tray is attached with a screw like most.

[Jim]

Jonas and Galaxy, I just came back to post a question after being off the site for months and I realized I never replied to your comments from last November. That's actually some great info. Sounds like It confirms what I thought from talking to the seller of my green/yellow century- it's the oldest. There's so many holes in it that, depending on where I'm sitting in the room, the light from one of the holes is bright and distracting enough I have to change seats. Anyway, thanks for the info.