Fairy lamp
{{Short description|Small, glass candle lamp}}
Fairy lamps (depending on locale, also called fairy lights) were a small, glass candle lamp that originally gained popularity during the 1880s and '90's.
History
The lamps' original purpose was utilitarian with the typical pieces including the base, a cup for the candle, and the chimney or shade.{{cite journal|last=Coleman|first=Brian|title=Words to Illuminate|journal=Old House Journal|date=February–March 2001|pages=91–92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA91|access-date=June 26, 2012|publisher=Home Buyer Publications}} Their creation began in the 1840s, when a new type of candle was developed. These candles were smaller, fatter, and encased with paper;{{cite book|last=Shuman III|first=John|title=Art Glass Identification & Price Guide|year=2011|publisher=Krause Publications|pages=51–53|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iJVQ3dG99XAC&pg=PA151|chapter=Fairy Lamps|isbn=9781440227394}} they were usually set in a saucer of water to burn. They burned longer and carried less risk of fire, a common danger of the Victorian era.
Samuel Clarke, one of several English designers of lighting devices, patented a glass cup covered with a dome{{cite news | title= Fairy lamps kept Boogy Man away |author= Everette Neese |newspaper= The Dispatch |date= January 24, 1995 |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qusbAAAAIBAJ&pg=6539,1735968&dq=fairy-lamp&hl=en |access-date= December 5, 2010}} on December 14, 1885. His company promoted the lamps as a way to sell their own candles. Clarke's original lamps feature a fairy embossed into the bottom, and they became so popular that all small candle-based lamps became known as "fairy lamps." They became extremely popular, due to the sudden affordability of mass-produced glass and candles, and were frequently used to illuminate nurseries, sickrooms, and hallways. Samuel Clarke even designed a fairy lamp in the shape of a crown in honor of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.{{cite web |last=Winzeler |first=Roger |title=Clarke's Fairy Lamps |url=http://www.justoldglass.org/articles/inhouse/fairy.html |publisher=Glass Collectors Digest (Just Old Glass.Com) |access-date=June 26, 2012 |date=October–November 1996 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219105539/http://www.justoldglass.org/articles/inhouse/fairy.html |archive-date=December 19, 2012 }} The Queen reportedly purchased 1,500 of these lamps "for her own use".{{cite news | title= A Lamp Guide for Collectors |author= Madge Macbeth |author-link=Madge Macbeth |newspaper= Ottawa Citizen |date= August 11, 1962 |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QUMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=2436,2059712&dq=fairy-lamp&hl=en |access-date= December 5, 2010}} The popularity of fairy lamps spread to America, and glassworks on the eastern seaboard and Midwest began manufacturing fairy lamps as well. An exhibit at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago featuring an island lit by fairy lamps{{cite book|title= The World's Columbian Exposition: the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 |last1= Bolotin |first1= Norm | last2= Laing | first2 = Christine |year= 2002 |publisher= University of Illinois Press |isbn= 0-252-07081-X |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vfsw96Eqko8C&q=fairy+lamp+chicago+world%27s+fair&pg=PA37 |access-date= December 5, 2010}} (3,000 of which were donated by Samuel Clarke), later toured various American cities.{{cite news | title= Carnival Week in Miami : Naval Battle in Fireworks |newspaper= The Miami News |date= February 28, 1902 |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=diYzAAAAIBAJ&pg=4193,6472316&dq=fairy-lamp&hl=en |access-date= December 5, 2010}} Fairy lamps themselves continued to be used through the 1920s.{{cite news | title= English Pottery Catered to American Sailors |newspaper= Palm Beach Daily News |date= November 14, 1978 |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ajMjAAAAIBAJ&pg=2254,4850115&dq=fairy-lamp&hl=en |access-date= December 5, 2010}}
The Fenton Art Glass Company resumed production of the fairy lamp in the early 1950s,{{cite web|last=Carver|first=Raymond & Barbara|title=Fenton Fairy Lights, 1953 - 2002|url=http://www.fairy-lamp.com/Fairylamp/FentonFairyLamps.html|publisher=FairyLampClub.Com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217043631/http://www.fairy-lamp.com/Fairylamp/FentonFairyLamps.html|access-date=December 8, 2020|archive-date=2016-12-17}} and the items continue to remain collectible.{{cite news | title= Glass Treasures Sparkle in State Antique Show |newspaper= Nashua Telegraph |date= August 7, 1986 |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-p8rAAAAIBAJ&pg=6092,2144488&dq=fairy-lamp&hl=en |access-date= December 5, 2010}}{{cite web|title=Fairy Lamp Club|url=http://www.fairy-lamp.com/|access-date=June 26, 2012}}
{{Portal|Victorian era}}