Looking for a non-liquid motion lamp... Anyone got one? Revolving multicolor beacon.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

I'm hunting for an unusual lamp. Here's the background: An antiques dealer on Vashon Island, WA, who ran a shop called "Oberon's Wonderful Store", had one of these for years. When I was a kid, I pestered him about it until he sold it to me. Also, a house on Vashon had one inside a miniature lighthouse in their yard, and another house near Seattle hung one outside every Christmas season. A restaurant in Pike Place Market, the famous Athenian Inn, had five of these hanging outside. They gradually fell apart over the years and were finally removed, but no one seems to know what happened to them. Another local antiques shop, The Daily Planet, has one, but they don't use it and yet won't sell it - it collects dust in the window.

The item itself: Comprised of two hemispherical ends, bottom and top, made of metal, separated by a clear glass or plastic cylinder, the entire lamp is around 10" tall by 5" diameter. Within is a metal box, affixed to a motor inside one of the hemispheres. This box revolves around a central light bulb, and has four round holes, one per side, with circular glass fresnel (focusing) lenses set in them - red, blue, green, yellow. On top is a metal post with a loop or ring for hanging. I have found an old ad for the Swiss Golden Beacon which shows it with a matching hanging bracket. I believe these lamps to be from the 1960s or 70s, possibly earlier or later. See attached ad photo, a scan of an ad once sold by Cardcow, an online vintage-ad site.

Variants: The basic model was apparently called a "Swiss Golden Beacon", and was marked Swiss Harmony, Chicago (Swiss Harmony also made, or at least sold, those square, lantern-shaped brass-and-glass liquor decanters contAining a wind-up music box which plays "Little Brown Jug" or "How Dry I Am" when picked up - around here, those are a frequent sight in thrift stores) I have seen the Swiss Golden Beacon with a crackled gold finish on the hemispheres, and also marked "Swiss Golden Beacon - Manufactured by A. A. Holes Corp". Mine, which fell apart many years ago and went I-don't-know-where, was marked "Eternal Guest Light - Swiss Harmony". Daily Planet's has a triangular box with only three lenses, and a blue-green "hammertone" metallic finish. Those outside The Athenian at Pike Place Market had a cylindrical glass fresnel lens (think of a "jelly jar" porch light) that was colored in four stripes, alternating red, clear, blue-green, clear. I know they had glass inner cylinders because, for many years, one of the lights' cylinders was sitting inside, shattered. And further, the current maker of those tiny chain-hung light-up barber poles says the company they bought the product from (the former manufacturer, that is) made a limited run of three-lens type with chromed hemispheres, and had one left (but wouldn't sell it) a few years ago.

If anyone has: seen these, knows anything about these, has other brands or model names for these, knows of other variants of these, or has any of these... Please let me know!

By the way, the ad says "Golden Swiss Beacon" but marked lamps seem to say "Swiss Golden Beacon". The ad does not mention a manufacturer. I poked around on the US Patent Office search for a while, but found nothing - maybe someone who's better versed in searching the site can locate a patent or design patent?
~ Jonas

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

More like my memory sucks...

[Peter T]

I would be very interested in this lamp if it hasn't been sold yet. Please let me know.

[Michael Eberlein]

I just read this posting and its about a year old now (just joined the site). I was wondering; Did you ever find a lamp yet? I have a really nice model 170 in super excellent condition. Let me know if interested. Even if you just would like a couple of pic's.
Michael

[Peter T]

Michael, I just joined too and I would love to see some pictures of your model. If you can could you e-mail them to me? [e-mail]. I am a collector and I am always interested.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

The only problem is finding someone willing to sell low. Sellers want the best price, and the best price is eBay, where one person (no clue who he is) buys EVERY Beacon that comes up, and pays as much as he can.

I can pay up to about $40 for one. If that's not really enough, go to eBay and list it, and watch this buyer, Roadscholar76, frantically go into a frenzy over it. The only ones he hasn't won are those he hasn't bid on, which were two in absolutely deplorable (likely unrepairable) condition. I don't stand a chance against him. I've tried to contact him though eBay, asking about information regarding these lights, but I get no response - which I take to mean "Go away. I'm busy collecting"

[mandysbus]

the last 2 i saw at an actual auction [not ebay] went for 25.00 each....i woulda gone higher but didnt have anymore cash at the moment........phil

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

Wow, wish I had been there! I'd pay that for two of 'em!! I keep checking around here. Here's what was in my area:
Sears store - Had one hanging in the lighting dept., from the ceiling. No employee I asked knew anything about it. Vanished one day. Store long since closed.

Antiques shop - Had one in the window for years, "absolutely not for sale" I was told. Lamp vanished one day. I haven't been able to ask the owner, as the store never seems to be open at all any more.

Swap shop near the University - Had one working in the store, "not for sale". I offered, high at the time ($50, high for me) and was turned down, "not for sale at any price". I guess this wasn't true, as it vanished. Where did it go? "Oh, someone made an offer and we sold it".

The Athenian Inn, Pike Place Market - used to have five Tripp-Lites hanging in a row out front. Well, sort of - one was broken, one was only the top dome, one was complete but non-working, one had the cylindrical inner cylinder shattered inside, and one lit up and worked. I spoke with the owner about either buying one, or consolidating all into a single working unit to display. They vanished a few years ago, and I haven't been able to get hold of her again.

Antiques shop on Vashon Island - Has a working one for years. I begged the owner to sell, and he finally did. I got it at age 14 or so, a Japanese-made "Eternal Guest Light". After a while, the outer cylinder fell apart from old age. I put the rest into a box, packed it away... and I've never found it since.

I remember now, that I've seen the Tripp brand you mention - the ones at the Athenian were Tripp-Lites. Rather than the common square or triangular metal box with three or four circular lenses, these had a cylindrical, possibly glass, inner portion with a horizontal ribbed pattern. One I saw on eBay had circular lenses, four in number, molded in (with four sections colored red-blue-green-yellow) but the ones at the Athenian had four colors as so: red-clear-green-clear, very nautical-looking. I say the inner part may have been glass only because one had the inner portion shattered to pieces inside. I've been told Trippe Mfg. (makers of the Tripp-Lite) also made one with the standard box-with-lenses arrangement, possibly called a 'welcome lite'.
~ Jonas

[Michael Eberlein]

A Swiss Golden Beacon lamp on Ebay now, Item number: 160314286722. What do you think? Is the price fair? What has that Ebay buyer mentioned previously been paying for these? It sounds like they are quite rare and hard to find.

[Peter T]

Well I have seen pictures of this guys lamp and it does look to be in good condition. He contacted me to ask about the selling price. I got mine for less but it's all what you are willing to pay for. His looks to be in good condition. The only other possible thing that might be worth your time to ask Michael for a video of it working. If you look up on this page he wrote in on February 3rd. I sent him a copy of the manual for it. $50 is probably a fair price. I'd offer lower first but I'm not sure how e-bay works. Let me know if you buy it.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

I think $95 is a good price for that model, of which I''ve only seen one other - it has the high-impact domed outer sleeve, rubber seals, and a thick rubber cord with weather-resistant seal where it enters the case. I can't pay that much right now, unfortunately - I could possibly get $50 together.

Glad to see it with BIN, even if I'm unable to bid. Normally, with bid-only lamps, it doesn't matter what I'm willing to pay - even if I'm willing to pay $250 (at one time I'd had a windfall, WAS, and tried), bidder roadscholar76 is *always* willing to pay more. I cannot outbid him. He's bought all but one or two beacons so far. I have a feeling he sets his maximum at some ridiculously high price, $600+.

[Michael Eberlein]

Thanks everyone for their input. This is an item that I haven't seen before and I'm looking to get a handle on what it actually is and what it sells for. I've heard several comments about this roadscholar76 ebayer. What has he been paying? The old saying "it's only worth what someone is willing to pay" has to be a consideration when valuing an item. I'm surprised that such a cool thing has no information anywhere about it. I love reading everyones comments. I've learned something about this lamp from them where I hadn't the slightest idea what it even was before.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

Michael, scroll up to my first post and you'll find a photo of one. It's simply a decorative motion lamp of sorts, using a motor, and arraged somewhat on the order of a lighthouse.

Roadscholar76, judging by his bidding history, buys mostly vintage firefighting items, of all sorts. I doubt these lamps are related, unless they have some as-yet-unknown-to-me connection with firefighting. More likely, I think, is the notion that he simply collects them, and is willing to pay whatever price is necessary to get every single working one.

Me, on the other hand? Eventually I'd like to get between one and three of these, for display. One will hang outside my front door, certainly, but if I get others, one may hang indoors, another may be placed in a post lantern out by the gate. I just find them interesting and they relate to my childhood. Someone has emailed me about having purchased one at a garage sale for a very low price, and I've asked whether he's interested in selling.
~ Jonas