Let There Be Light!!!

I've said it once, and I'll say it again...

Sometimes it's the smallest of details.

Well, I have had a light in the hallway that is used nearly every day.  It's right inside the door when I walk in, and it's needed once the sun sets to navigate the numerous stairs.  There's only one problem...

It's from 1939.

The old light fixture.

I never really minded it, but now that the area is painted, I just wanted to continue to update that area some more.

So a quick little trip to Lowe's did the trick.  I bought a contemporary light fixture for a whopping $11, and I decided to learn a little electrical know-how (I called Dad!).

The fixture was kind of interesting.  The glass outer covering was actually attached TO THE LIGHTBULB!!!  It just used a spring-like device to clamp on to the glass.  Dad said this was pretty common in the past.  How about that!

After removing the light fixture, I was shocked at two things...

#1--One of the previous colors of this room was turquoise!!!  It had sent been painted a dull yellow (I changed that a while back), but what a bright color this area had been.

#2--Men used to stand by their work.  Inside the light fixture with the wires, I found a stamp-sized paper that had the union that did the labor along with the foreman's signature.  I'm sure he is dead by now.  But could you imagine if every work that was done had a proud man standing behind it?!  "If it fails, call me!  I'll fix it!"

It brought up the memories of Dad always telling me, "Andy, my name is on this."  He used to say that all the time during electrical projects that I would tag along on.  He would often find some shoddy (his word) electrical work that wasn't done properly.  This would only be known after opening up a wall or crawling through an attic or crawlspace.  For the work that he was hired (or asked) to do, he would bring it up to code and do the project right.  It was often more difficult, but that always stuck with me.

The old light fixture...and color of ceiling!

But what a neat little piece of history.  That tiny little paper was now 83 years old.  (He must have done good work!).

After a little bit of effort, I had a brand-new light.

Before...(notice the old yellow walls, too!  It's an older picture...)

After!  $11 for a simple update!

It was nothing fancy.  But what a difference it makes!  It looks better, and I tell you, this area is sooooooo much brighter!  It has two bulbs instead of one, and I was able to use the CFL bulbs, too.  It's a huge change.