OK, so we’re in a rut, but my wife and I enjoyed last years TV lamp hunt so much that we decided to follow the same path in ’05… sort of. As with our travels in 2004, we zig-zagged our way through west Texas into New Mexico, but this time we left no stone unturned. As a result our pace was down from last year, forcing us to leave Colorado out of the mix.
The best way to describe our course is to say that we followed Interstate 20, without driving on it. The small towns to the north and south of the highway were our targets, and we connected-the-dots all the way into Hobbs, NM. The most memorable stop of our journey was in Big Spring, Texas, where we dropped in at Dahmer’s Antiques. We talked collectibles with owner Vicki Dahmer for quite a while when the conversation, naturally, turned to TV lamps. Vicki said she had a couple of TV lamps upstairs that we might be interested in, and proceeded to retrieve them. In no time she returned with two Kron TV lamps, one owl and one bear. But what distinguished these lamps from others was their condition…they were new.
Vicki had purchased two unopened cartons of Kron TV lamps around 20 years ago, and she was willing to part with the last two. So, for a very reasonable price, I walked away with two new Krons, including their original boxes and shipping carton. The term often used for such items, borrowed from the vintage automobile hobby, is new-old stock, or NOS. In other words, they are vintage lamps, but never used or unpacked, therefore like new. Personally, I think my wife is prone to exaggeration, but she’s sure had a laugh describing my reaction when seeing this stuff! (In all honesty, I’m sure I behaved much like a lottery winner)
Texans Inc. carton
carton detail Fragile, Handle with Care
carton detail Lamp Boxes
individual boxes
bear & owl lamps
bear and owl TV lamps NOS Kron owl
NOS Kron owl owl lamp electrics
fixture and cord
At this point I would have been happy to go home and revel in our new finds, except for the fact that we hadn’t made it to “Vegas” yet. One of our favorite spots for lamp hunting has always been Las Vegas, New Mexico, and that means 20th Century Antiques. I sang its praises in my recap of last years hunt, and I’ll share my visit in a bit more detail this time around.
20th Century Antiques is an amazing shop that was started by Kenneth Kimbrel and is today owned and operated by his daughter, Sandra Sandoval. Sandra’s shop is housed in a large building that dates from the 1880s, making it the perfect setting for her menagerie of “stuff”. And what stuff! Shelf upon shelf, aisle after aisle of more pottery, glassware and furniture than you can imagine.
20th Century Antiques
20th Century Antiques display window
display window Sandra!
…and here’s Sandra!
Neat stuff…
more…
still more!
While a thorough search of all this might be a daunting task Sandra is quick to help, often reaching right into the depths of this collection to pull out just what you’re after. I haven’t even begun to properly describe all the things 20th Century Antiques offers, so if you are looking for a particular collectible, whether it’s a ’50s ashtray, Frankoma pitcher, vintage china…whatever, they’re worth a look.
We also stopped into a shop just around the corner, American West Antiques & Collectibles. They had an impressive display of TV lamps, and is where we found a nice deco-styled deer TV lamp that we just couldn’t do without. I won’t prattle on with a discourse on every place we stopped or everything we saw, as the fun is in the doing. I’d recommend a trip through the area to anyone interested in great small towns, beautiful scenery…and TV lamps!
Dahmer’s Antiques
204-206 S. Main St.
Big Spring, TX 79720
20th Century Antiques
514 Douglas Ave.
Las Vegas, NM 87701
American West Antiques & Collectibles
518 6th St.
Las Vegas, NM 87701
