Do you have access to a lamp store? That seems a good option in this case.

Good to know Rocky’s okay!😺

The only lamp store I know of is about 30 miles away, and I don't know if it's still there. Between the pandemic and the price of gas, I'm not as adventurous in my outings as I used to be. :-)

Alisande, Google that lamp store to see if they still exist. If they do, call them, describe your lamp, then see if they have an email address where you can send a picture of it. I bet if you explain you're 30 miles away and want to see first if they might have something that will work before driving there, they may help and save you a wild goose chase drive.

Do a search on ”antique double gooseneck table lamp” for shade ideas. Each bulb would have its own shade…like this…

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/antique-ornate-art-deco-double-gooseneck-table-lamp-brassspelter-swivel-sockets--332773859964469790/

tj

Tsugajunkie and Chloebud, those would be ideal. I wonder if my parents had glass shades that were packed separately when I shipped things back from their house. That was a long time ago, but occasionally we still find things in the barn that I never unpacked.

Good idea, Sephia. I can try that. Thanks, all!

This is not a great picture but it does show how a shade might be affixed. I found this lamp on Etsy.

Will it be electrically safe? Should you get it rewired?

I wonder if lamp shades for bathroom lighting would work. The picture of the lamp looks like they might work.

I will give you my mailing address and send you postage.

LOL Petalique--thanks, but although Elmer Fudd disagrees with me (again), I tend to be sentimental about objects--especially ones used by my parents.

Floral, I think of those things too. Living alone, I'm very aware of fire hazards. I'll look into this.

Thanks, Murraysmom--that kind of attachment hadn't occurred to me.

To put on those glass shades you need the rings or plates with the screw pins that hold the glass shade. Look at Chloebuds Picture. Sometimes old sockets will have bottom bits that unscrew so such a part can be put on and held in place or sometimes screwed on if the plate has screw rings like a lid. Without that you have nothing to hold the glass shade. You would have to use clip on's. I cant make stab at how old this lamp is because I cant see if the cord is plastic or fabric coated. I dealt with a bunch of old light fixtures for a house I built many years ago. Often old fixtures simply had fancy decorative bulbs. There are places that sell reproductions. Really old light fixtures didnt have shades because the bulbs weren't very bright to start with. They continued to make similar lamps even though that was no longer an issue.

Patricia, the cord and the plug are plastic. Of course, my dad could have had it rewired. They had a number of things in their house that came from both sets of my grandparents. My dad was born in 1903, and my stepmother in 1910.

I am a big fan of antique lighting. Some of my lamps don't have glass shades, but I found beaded bulb covers (check Ebay) that fit over the bulb. They are glass beads that are wired together and fit over a bare bulb by twisting the top wire. You would probably have to get torpedo-shaped bulbs. The beaded covers look so beautiful, and they diffuse the harsh light. They would look especially nice with the glass in the center of your lamp.

I L O V E your lamp! I mix old antiques with new modern decor. As for the shade....I like the tulip glass shade. But....there are other options. Which do "you" want to pursue?

One thing about those glass shade fixtures for a reading lamp is that the general ambient lighting that they provide is not well directed for reading or focus work. You might consider a non transparent shade, perhaps.

Have you looked for an online source of glass shades and fittings?

Faftris, those are so pretty. I'd never heard of them before. But all the bulbs pictured with them have a narrow base. I've never seen a torpedo-shaped bulb with a standard base.

I should explain to everyone that although there's a lot of home decor discussion on Houzz, in this case I am more concerned with function than beauty. I'm the only one who ever goes in my bedroom. I like the idea of using our old family lamp, and my old simple farmhouse seems like a good place for it.

The lamp I had before worked well, although I don't think it was designed for reading. It was similar to this. Both chains eventually broke--another job for the lamp store.

https://image.lampsplus.com/is/image/b9gt8/mission-square-bronze-finish-art-glass-table-lamp-by-robert-louis-tiffany__y4644cropped.jpg?

I have nothing to add, except I really like the glass tulip shades, and now I'm having some pretty serious antique lamp envy. Your lamp is beautiful! I do hope you will show us what you decide on.

Rusty

My daughter and I came across this lamp while shopping in an antique store today. She pointed it out and loves it. Notice the iridescent glass shades. I thought of you and thought I would share a picture of it. I hope you find shades that fit or better find the original shades packed away.

I don't know if this will work, but on link suggests you need an Edison bulb. Looked it up and found these on Amazon that I believe you would use without a shade.

Thanks, Judianna, I hadn't heard of those either. They're so cool! I'm going to give one of them a try. I looked at a bunch of them. Some reviewers said they were ideal for reading in bed, while others said they were unsuitable for reading. I think I would be in the first camp. I'm super-sensitive to bright light, and I rarely read longer than 20 minutes in bed. I just have to decide which one to get. Thanks again!

I get my standard base torpedos at Home Depot. They are LED. They also call them "fan bulbs", like for ceiling fans. Antique lighting is an addiction. Once you get started...

Judianna's suggestion of "Edison bulbs" got me started looking at various options within that type. Today I bought Better Homes & Gardens Vintage Style amber glass bulbs with the visible lighting elements. They're fairly small, and only 5W (40-watt equivalent). I took them home and tried one out to see if it gave me enough light for reading. It did!

The only problem (and it's a big one) is I can't look at it. My Lyme-related light sensitivity is pretty bad, and there's no way I could walk around in my bedroom with even one of those lights lit. Not only would looking at the light, even from a distance, be painful, but it would likely result in an ocular migraine.

So it looks like I'll have to come up with a Plan B. Meanwhile, I think I'll keep the bulbs and use the lamp in another room for now.

PS: The lamp store has apparently disappeared. I'm surprise, as I remember it as a fairly large operation. Maybe it was another casualty of the pandemic.

But, arnt Edison bulbs still bare bulbs?

Even clear glass globes still leaves the unfiltered light of a bare bulb. I dont think you are going to find that your lamp makes for a good bed side reading lamp, but may be nice in some other application as general lighting.

I dont think that people were asking as much from their electric bulbs back in the days of that lamp. They were just slap happy to have electric lights.

The idea of a reading lamp came later, I think. For that you might want a more focused light and not one that broadcasts the light.

Hopefully you can find the orginal shades. You must be able to look at the fittings on the lamp and see how the globes were attached, thus giving you something to base your search with.

I think that patriciae has given you some good advice. I, too, was looking at your photo and wondering what was going to hold your shade in place. I dont see any fittings for it, but the photo doesnt offer much detail for that. The fittings would have to be above the socket and I dont see them as being obivious. And you know that they didnt take the sockets off to remove the shades.

The sockets look pretty modern so likely that the lamp has been rewired at some point. One would think so. If so, maybe the original ones were more attractive and not just utilitarian. Just speculating. Those hardware store sockets detract from the aesthetics and are pretty unattractive and out of context with the rest of the lamp.

Bare bulbs are unpleasant, in my opinion.