Post #392176 by bigbrotiki on Mon, Jul 7, 2008 1:57 PM

I think everybody has the right to get the most money for their finds, and also to change their mind from "ugly" to "cool", that is what Tiki Central is all about: To widen our perception of the cultural heritage of the last century.

This said, that e-bay auction was an example of someone really wanting such a lamp, and overpaying for it. I would never go that far. The thing with these lamps on e-bay is that they turn up fairly regularly, but they have been discovered by mid-century modern dealers, so it is rare to find them for under a hundred bucks. But when they go over their expense limits, and the dealers see their profit margin dwindling, they fall back, and you can snag one for under two hundred. Then of course there are the transport costs, which are soaring nowadays...

I have been a fan of the American chunky resin lamp since the early 90s, when I saw my friend Doug Miller's apartment ceiling plastered with them in all kinds of colors and shapes. Doug was a religious swap meet goer (and earlier, seller), and at that time they were not only still available, but affordable at flea markets in Southern California. (No more, I am afraid).

But since I love all things that glow and am a lamp fan and collector in general, (especially Polynesian and mid-century modern), here, by request, a little Resin Lamp-ology:

On 2008-07-04 21:43, bananabobs wrote:
Okay...want to clear things up? Give us a background on those lamps, now I see more of them around, so, when were they made? What era are they? Mid-century modern or TiKi? I'm gonna guess that you did not spend $300 each, so were they swap meet finds? Garage sale? Thrift? What? If we were search for them, (and I will) How? What? Where.
I think they are insanely cool! I want one real bad, I don't think that you meant for this thread to go weird, it just did. I probably would have done what you did if I got something cheap and then when I realized there was a lot more interest than I thought... anyway bring us up to speed on these lamps. Cool?

These resin lamps are not classic Polynesian pop, like the various, more organic shell lamps, rattan baskets, blow fish and fishnet floats, but they WERE used in Polynesian pop style. I would say they are Tiki Modern, a meeting of primitivism and modernism. The fishnet float is actually where the two intersect: Places like Kelbos and Bahooka did plaster their ceiling with the plastic versions of glass floats in the 60s/70s, and many of these had resin embellishments and surfaces. Here are some examples, beginning with the style at hand in this post:

These "Super Chunk" ones are from my friend Kiara Geller's collection, and similar ones can be found in the lobby of the Palm Springs Tropics Motel (where they were placed after originally hanging in front of their Reef Bar). Because of their primitive caveman look, they seem to be the most desirable ones, and CAN go high in price.

The closest one to those I have is this one:

I found it on my expedition to "The Tikis" in Lake Elsinore.
Here it is in an old brochure, hanging in Situ at The Tikis' old Monterey Park location:

The next desirable type is the "chunky mixed with grainy" resin lamp, like this one I found for a good price at an antique mall in Atlanta:

ON
(Note: When lit they photograph differently than the visual impression by the human eye, which gives one a more even glow)

OFF

Here is a slightly different but same type, in orange, on e-bay right now:

Here is the next type, the grainy resin one, in an odd shape. They are usually ball shaped. This one I scored from Kelbo's:

The chunky and grainy resin ones are somewhat preferable to the two sub-types which show up on e-bay, mostly from Canada, and which go for less:
The ribbon resin lamp:

...and the spaghetti resin lamp:

I recently scored a mint example of a resin lamp style I had wanted for a while, because I had seen them used for Polynesian apartment buildings like the Kona Kai, and this one, found by Tiki Kate:

These resin flowers may strike some as a little fay, but I don't care, here's my beauty (still in transit!):

Then of course there are the purely modernist resin lamps, like this Ships Coffeshop lamp over my kitchen table...

...or this UFO one in my living room:

...but that really isn't Tiki, so enough of that :D
Resin lamps a literally eye candy to me, it's like you can eat them.