The Pudding

[LampHead]

Ok I really dont know where to start, im bewildered with lava info...Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting with a former LavaSimplex/World worker (from 1988 to 2002) and I spent a hour picking his brain and have acquired a wealth of info AND a 1991 video that shows all kinds of test color lamps and bases, waves, LavaLarry, GemLites etc.This is where the problem starts... the video is copyrighted and I promised not to upload it to the internet and will not break that promise....BUT he OK'd screen pics if no faces are shown as many employees are in the video. He wishes to remain out of the picture due to a agreement that all employees signed forbidding them from giving info about the product, even though I did not learn any trade secrets his wishes will be honored. Im going to my cousins tonight to get a copy of PowerDVD which will take screen shots. If anyone has something better to capture screen pics please let me know. The video quality is good but some shots are very fast as they walk by tables so I hope the pics are clear.

Some info for starters, of course everyone wants to know about the infamous # 01....As I have stated before they are real and I own 2 of them myself both purchased NIB, a former member had received email conformation from LW about them too http://www.oozinggoo.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b-11/m-1192655495/s-0/ , basically the same story I was told, but I have learned something interesting about them, the 32oz was originally done for a employees wedding, there were about 20 made in princess bases, one for each table, they were later tested as a red/white/blue combo pack but not released (proof in this video 11 seconds in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8ErqynlvtY ) The 52oz was tested as a Americana, again red/white/blue theme. He said they were allowed to make "employee" lamps when possible BUT, and this explains alot, the cap coder was not used as they were hand capped and never ran through a machine, he said the bottles were never counted as production. ( I will post test table pictures showing it, its in the video)

The # 06 was the early blood red lava and later reshaded into the # 10 and then brought back as a # 18 Cranberry, thats right its simply a early Cranberry.

The # 07 peach/clear was a Elek-Trick test color that was the first attempt at pink clear later reshaded to the # 14 pink and released. ( I will post test table pictures showing it, its in the video)

The # 11 yellow was a Elek-Trick test color that was too neon and swapped for the # 08 yellow and released. ( I will post test table pictures showing it, its in the video)

The # 16 chocolate was nothing more than a bad batch of black that was allowed to run, he estimates about 2500 of them released in the snake skin and chocolate swirl base. He said they ran them for half a day till the batch was out. Employees took quite a few of these.

The # 23 was a green/blue that was dropped in favor of the # 24 yellow/blue.( I will post test table pictures showing it, its in the video)

I will also get test globe pics of blue/blue and some really off colors as they shaded and tested them. All of this info now makes sense of the numbering system as it follows it right down as color shades were changed.
If you are looking for certain info, post below and I will try to answer or post pics to answer your questions. I am so freaking overloaded right now...LOL


LampHead

[Keith]

Great info! Maybe not the Holy Grail of Lava, but very significant for lava lovers. :)

[wayne miller]

k so what are the basics fluids of a wave machine, u know i gotta ask!!!!!

[Vadeem Beginnin]

If you like, I can blur out all of the faces in the video so you can simply post it.

It would look like an episode of COPS....

[WeeboTech]

Cool Post. Seems they did allot of experiments and customs too.
I happen to have a Lava Experimental Army Themed Wizard that I'll have to post. It's a one of a kind. heh!

[wayne miller]

Super great info and pics. But I can not die a happy man untill I know what they put in those wave machines lol. ( or at least the two base fluids used )

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

This is all extremely cool... I wonder when, exactly, all of this was taken? OR when the vid showing all the vintage lamps was taken. In the screengrabs shown above, I find it interesting that the Confetti GemLites, 650 (silver silver/clear) and 642 (black silver/pink) have their globes swapped.

I visited Lava World in, I think, 1999 or 2000. At that time, they had SOME old catalogs, which they photocopied (very darkly) as well as two copies of issues of the Lava Liter, an early-days in-company newsletter. They told me they had zero older or discontinued lamps, and they had a display of current models running.

Here are four screengrabs from the YouTube video. In three, I've IDed a number of unusual older lamps, including Mediterranean, Saturna, Carlisle, Aladdin, Enchantress Planters of both styles with orig. flowers, Mystique lava, 650 Confetti GemLite, a Giant Lava, an unusually flat-based Consort, as well as an unidentified lamp, a black square base with plastic sides and silver surface with an Elegant-type bottle sitting in it...? There's a rain lamp, too, a Creators' Shower-Lite with the Venus statue, an older late 70s-early 80s large size.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

4th screengrab shows an odd 52oz. lamp which was IDed by a manager I used to know at a local Spencer Gifts: He claimed he saw these at a trade show and they were non-electric models, but they apparently never hit the shelves. If I were able to step back and grab one lone test model, this would be it. Seemingly, none of this existed when I visited the factory, though I never left the lobby and they were VERY busy (the receptionist was on the phone nonstop). My questions, and I'm in no hurry to hear answers:

Did he describe any interesting experimental models that didn't get released, and why? Including this candle model - and, if he described the candle lamp, can you ID it in this screengrab - did he give that much detail?

And... Does he have any vintage catalogs, up into the 80s? If so, do you have a way to contact him again? I would happily pay his asking price for high-quality photocopies or scans of these.

[medicated goo]

WOW this is way too cool and overwhelming - THANKS for your time and most revealing efforts!. If one could only go back in time to the late 60's early 70's in Chicago and do the same excellent work related to Vintage material I would be in nirvana.... We have sooo many unknowns and questions related to U.S. lava and me thinks this only makes the lava quest that much more intriguing and fun!

[LampHead]

I wish I could have had more questions about other products before meeting but we covered lavas, waves and glitters. To answer a few questions first, Wayne if I told you what was in a wave I would have to kill you, its the oath I took...LOL seriously I was not told what was in them but was told later in the 90's LW tried different colors and also had a clear/clear tester. The lava bases were made off site in Chicago and sent to LW in raw form, no colors, no guts. Later in the 90's they were made in China but received the same way by LW, in raw form. The bottles were made off site in Indiana and Ohio till the US shutdown. The screw on and crimp bottle caps were made by Crown,Cork and Seal in Illinois. Astro I did not ask about the sand items but I believe you can see some on the top shelf in some of the pics I will post and from my prior knowledge Barr Hall was a chemist but I did not ask that question. All bases were painted and wired on site by LW. He basically said it was a great place to work until late 2001, I have more info on that but do not wish to post it in a open forum. Weebs I believe your custom Wizard is a peach globe, compare it to the pics I post.

Alright on to the good stuff, I used PowerDVD to screen capture but some of the video was moving to fast to get a clear shot but many good pics came out. I have edited out body parts in some shots, so if you see my squiggly lines you will know why, I have many more to edit that I will get to later. They capture in bitmap and I have changed them to jpegs to upload.

This first pic is the lobby as you walked in the building. Notice the painting on the wall of a Century

Another shot of lobby

# 23 lime/blue globe in center, # 07 Peach on left

Another glimpse of the # 06 Peach on right and a blue/blue test color (looks like the Mathmos color version) notice the # 17 Teal colored globe and base on bottom left..

This one shows a few Elek-Trick test colors but most noticed is the # 17 Teal with colored base

More Elek-Trick colors, the yellow is the # 11

Test globes, notice the writing on them

Close up of a # 03 tester

Batch of yellow wax up close

The whole yellow batch

Tester batch of red, these were done in smaller vats

Small vat machine warning

Employee holding up a blue globe

# 04 pink/white globes being filled

We at least know something was flammable

Century boxes

Blue bases after paint

Yellow and lime bases after paint, the lime was not released with the Elek-Trick series and were shelved for years until they were released in 2001 (Elek-Trick series came out in 1992)

Orange, yellow and pink bases after paint

Yellows after paint

# 01 clear/white in center and on the left a black wax with maybe a light red liquid (Astro, this is where you can see some square items on the top shelf I think may be sand)

Closer shot of the black wax with light red liquid (not sure what the item is in front of it, I can not make it out)

Multi color wave

Pink GemLite

Close up of pink GemLite

LavaLarry

LavaLarry again, this shows the back of him..LOL

Lava Lives

Blue wave

Blue wave again

Lab shot

Color test

Color test

Closer shot of # 11

Multi color wave

Test machine

Lab testers

2 white wax globes on microwave...guess how they melt the wax

Melted white

Alright thats it for now, I will be posting more pics later. Hope you enjoyed seeing them.

[LampHead]

Almost blew that one..LOL. I added more pics to the original pic post above and it disappeared and came back. Check above for new pics ^^^^ and here

52oz screw tops being filled with blood red

52oz testing

Pink white 52oz screw top Aristocrat, notice the either black or blue wax with yellow liquid on the bottom

small vat

Production packaging area with pink white 32's

I will add info tomorrow in detail of products discussed and what I learned.


LampHead

[storm98]

Great info! Wealth of information in this thread. I'm still a little confused about the 06, 07, and 11.

1. Was the #06 blood red lava released in a 32oz and then turned into a #18?
2. Were the #07 and #11 released to public or were they only in the lab?
3. Can you find out more information on the Aztec? How long was production, available colors, etc?

[wayne miller]

O O O O I can't believe i forgot to ask what about the "dual waves" and the " pacfica " wave what colors did they come in and where they really in production and when and pic's / video ???