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I'm sure we all
remember in the late 1980s and through the early 1990s, when standard
shaped GLS lamps such as this, generally in lower wattages were a
common sight as decorative items. They seem to have become a
somewhat rarer sight in recent years, especially over the festive
period where many houses used to line the eaves with them having
switched over to the more energy efficient and long lived LED products
which are becoming increasingly affordable. These lamps
generally were seen for those purposes in bold colours (most commonly
red, yellow, blue, green and sometimes pink), usually coloured with an
external lacquer or powder coating.
This particular lamp is a bit of an enigma. It's on in a
series of coloured lamps with our local Morrison's Supermarket has for
sale. I'm unsure however whether they are attempting to grab
back some share of this market, or if these lamps are designed more for
atmospheric lighting inside the home. The colour of this lamp
(despite the apparently orange colour the lamp looks in the photograph
of it lit) is a slightly pale red colour (as the photo below of the
lamp illuminating my workstation shows correctly). The main
differences between this lamp and those which were often seen as
decorative outdoor lamps are in method of colouration, and
wattage. This is a 60W lamp, rather than the usual decorative
lamp rating of 25W. The downside of this is that it means
that the lamp runs far hotter than its common counterparts - which if
it were used in an outdoor environment would greatly increase the risk
of the lamp shattering if water were to land on it when it was
lit. The colour to this lamp is created by the use of a
powder coating applied to the inner surface of the bulb. This
has the advantage of being far more durable than even the hardest
wearing external coating, but is more expensive to produce.
Due to
these factors, and the fact that there are a very limited selection of
colours available (red, peach, terracotta and orange), I can only
deduce that they're aiming this lamp at those wanting to create a
rather bold visual contrast with lighting in their homes, and this lamp
can indeed do that extremely well. It should be noted however
that the coloured coating does cut down on the overall light output a
LOT, and the light level produced by this (as well as being distinctly
red in colour) is rather weak, about what I would expect from a 30W
clear bulb.
Overall, this lamp is an interesting curiosity, and as a collector, of
course I'm happy to have one (well, two actually thanks to Morrison's
having gone and packed it in such a manner that the packaging has to be
destroyed to get the lamp out. So I got two, one to keep in
its packaging, and one to use for photography). Practically
it's not a huge amount of use though. There are far better
ways to get coloured light (standard lamps and filters - allows you to
use more energy efficient lamps then as well), coloured compact
fluorescent lamps are something also which I expect to start to see
more commonly over the coming years.
Morrison's Supermarkets have quite a range of lighting products
available now, all branded under their own name. I would be
very interested to learn who the OEM of these lamps is. If
anyone out there knows, please drop me a line and let me know.
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