1935 MERRY-GO-LITES

maria · Post by **maria** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:34 pm

Came across this ad in a 1935 movie magazine--with nothing else to it--not the manufacturer--not where to buy them etc. Anybody know anything about them? What they were made of etc.

Post by **paulrace** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 6:59 am

1935 means they were made to work with the old series bulbs which could get HOT. So presumably they had a little whirlygig-style fan that caused a cylinder pierced with holes to rotate around the bulb once they got hot. The question is, were they made of metal? Because if they were paper or cardboard, they weren't as safe around those bulbs as the ad proclaims.

A safer, though more elaborate version was the Bradford Celestial tree topper.

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories ... ristmas-tr

gary-g · Post by **gary-g** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:35 pm

Hi, these were similar to the Whirl Glo shades. If I remember correctly they were made of treated paper like the Whirl Glo shades. They did have the metal fan in the top, but unlike Whirl Glo, they had a glass bearing for the wire point to rest in. They did not have a paper cap with a pin but came with a pointed spiral wire that fit over the lamp. We had some but never really used them much. The wire was kind of fussy to get just right, more so than the paper cap. They reminded me of a small upside down Dixie cup with holes punched in it. The Whirl Glo shades were much nicer and there was more variety.

maria · Post by **maria** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 1:41 pm

Thanks Gary

gary-g · Post by **gary-g** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:12 pm

Found these on ebay this evening. Not sure if this is another version of the Merry-Go-Lites but they look very nice. The seller has some very good pictures of them on the listing showing all the parts.