The rise of the Candlestick phones

Sometimes you come across a story so good that it needs to be retold. Here is one of these stories. 

While we were at a show this spring, we were approached by a couple and asked if we would be able to refurbish a pair of lamps that their grandfather had done a very long time ago. To be honest people ask us these type of questions all the time, and that is usually is the end of it . 

So we were surprised when we were contacted about restoring a pair of early 1900's candlestick desk phones that her grandfather had converted into lamps. But there was more to the story, not only had her grandfather repurpose  these phones before it was a thing. The phone lamps had been stored in a house that was flooded in the 2005 hurricane Katrina and were underwater for an extended amount of time. They were in bad shape, and she wanted them redone for her mothers birthday. 

Here are some before pictures of the phones

And this is the one that was in better shape.

So we love a good story and a chance to bring peoples treasured memories back to life, so we took the challenge. 

All of the innards were in the phones and everything was rusted solid, so these had to be removed. One phone had a box that we were able to rescue and reuse all parts of it after much care and refinishing. The other box had to have the base and top sections replaced. Both phones had to be stripped of all the rust and repainted or polished. After a good amount of work and adding a little of our style, while still honoring the original artists vision, we were able to return these to the family.

Here is a picture of our customers mother after receiving one of the phone lamps that her father originally made, and she did not even know had been save from Katrina. I think she looks happy, and we were told a few tears were shed.   

This is what makes what we do so magical, when we can reconnect people with memories. 

"bringing memories to light" 

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