Hurricane Lamps

What are hurricane lamps? A hurricane lamp is any kind of lamp that is designed with a covering for the flame or for the light bulb. There can be hurricane table lamps (possibly the most common) or hanging hurricane lamps. In either case, there is typically a cylinder of transparent glass in a candle hurricane lamp, or the cylinder that covers the flame / light bulb can be made out of a material that diffuses the light. In some cases, the shield the protects the lighting element does not even have to be a cylinder (for example, in the situation of hurricane lamp globes). The reason that these kinds of lamps are called hurricane lamps is that the covering acted in older times to protect the light from being blown out by strong winds (also one has to wonder what good any kind of covering like this would do when faced with an actual hurricane).

Modern hurricane lamps are almost all electric hurricane lamps, meaning that today hurricane lamps are basically a stylistic choice more than a functional one (such as the Waterford crystal candle hurricane lamp), however the Victorian hurricane lamps and clear glass hurricane oil lamps that were originally created during the early twentieth century are prized items of value to collectors and can a Victorian hurricane lamp be worth hundreds of dollars or more depending on its rarity and condition. Replacement parts such as hurricane lamp replacement glass (a glass hurricane lamp shade) can help you to put a hurricane lamp into the finest condition, although the original glass may be of some value to collectors of hurricane lamps, as well.

Some people in the northeast of the United States may enjoy having hurricane lamps on their wedding table and hurricane lamps are a more common sight in general among the northeastern coastal states where storms had to be weathered as a fact of life and the hurricane lamps that were developed there were a great part of people's day to day lives as well. If you live in one of these northeast states and you come across an old fashioned hurricane lamp in your attic you should be sure to have someone come and appraise it because it is possible that the hurricane lamps your parents or grandparents put away could be collectibles that are worth a great deal of money to the collectors of hurricane lamps today.