Orb Lights: Coming Full Circle

As mentioned in my previous post about my Craiglist addiction, I have always loved the hanging, white orb light found in my Grandmother's home. When visiting her house, I always found the floating, glowing globe in her hallway to be a welcoming sight. I decided early on in my life that when the time came for me to purchase a house of my own, I would search out my own orb lights to remind me of the time spent with my Grandmother. 

Once we made the leap into home ownership, I immediately began searching for a light that could replace the IKEA lamp hanging in our entryway. Nearly a year and a half after moving into our home, I was lucky enough to find a local listing that was selling a number of orb lights. I began negotiations to purchase a few and finally settled on a price with the seller. When I met the individual selling the fixtures, I was surprised to see that the globes on these lights were considerably larger than the one I grew up admiring. The difference in size turned out to be a great thing as the larger globe (approximately 14 inches wide) fit the space in our entry way much better than a smaller orb would have. After a few days, we had removed the IKEA light and were now able to enjoy a light like the one I had cherished for so long. But the story doesn't end there.

On a recent trip to visit our families, I was able to enjoy the sight of my Grandmother's light again. When we visit for a weekend or more we generally stay at her home because there is plenty of space and she enjoys our company. During our visit, I was able to check out a local antique/junk store that my mother mentioned during dinner. This store was my kind of shop. There was plenty of inventory and not much organization inside, which is usually a good sign that I will find something of value. After a few minutes of browsing I came across a small box stuffed with newspaper and noticed a glossy white substance peaking out from the open area. Inside the box was a small, never-before used orb light! I searched the package for a price and found nothing so I went to the store owner prepared to negotiate the price. However, I was surprised to find that negotiations weren't needed when she said she'd be happy if I'd give her $2 for it. It didn't take me long to complete the sale and I was happy to share my newest find with my grandmother. I told her the story of how much I admired her light growing up and about the searching I had done to find lights of my own. She enjoyed hearing about my searches and got a laugh out of my excitement. She told me she didn't know anything about the light that had hung so long in her home other than it had been there when she and my grandfather bought the house and it was fine to her as long as it kept working. While we obviously have different tastes and feelings towards mid century lighting, it was great to find something that means so much to me during the time I was staying at the place that the admiration stemmed from.























The light I grew up admiring in the hallway of my grandmother's home.

Another globe light at my grandmother's. This one is just inside the front entry hallway.

The first orb light I found and placed in our entryway.

The cheap, generic light in our hallway that we replaced with the new orb light.

An illustrated diagram of the small orb light I found visiting our families.

The new, small light hung in our hallway.

An ad from the newspaper wrapped around the light fixture. 35 WPM? Sign me up. Apparently this light was originally from Glendale Arizona.

Another ad from the newspaper. Check out the price of that Dodge Magnum.