Furnishing Friday: Hedco Lamp

Edit: I'm totally reworking the format of this post, and adding information my mom shared in an email! Look for this to become something of a standard format for Furnishing Fridays!

Okay, new theme for you--Furnishing Fridays!


We've inherited a LOT of home furnishings from family, which I love--J and I enjoy an antique or two, and it feeds the genealogist in me, too! Unfortunately, I don't know the stories behind the pieces occupying space in the MP, and without the story, isn't a piece really just worthless?

My goal with Furnishing Fridays is two-fold. First, figure out what we have. Second, record the history, and the stories that accompany those family pieces, in a place that won't be easily lost. In the words of that new commercial, I'm going "to the cloud" to save the stories!


First up--this lamp.



Item: Lamp (one of a pair)
Who Purchased: My grandmother B.
Year Purchased/Received: late 1950's/early 1960's
Location Purchased/Received: Owensboro, KY, probably Andersen's Dept Store or Purdy's Furniture Store
Description: The lamp actually lights up in two places--one bulb is in the hurricane on top, and the other is down in the lower part of the lamp. The glass is milk glass (I think). The pattern is a bunch of grapes--looks like a gold decal--and a painted dot or leaf motif around the grapes.
Markings: It is stamped HEDCO on the bottom of the base, which seems to be molded metal (brass?). I did a quick Google search on the name Hedco and turned up tons of pictures of similar lamps, many referred to as "Gone With the Wind" lamps. I can't find anything about the company, though, as Hedco is (now, at least) a snow making company.
How it came to the MP: We got these lamps from my grandmother, back when we got the rest of her living room. I remember them sitting on each end of a couch, and if I recall, they had been that way (in different houses, with different couches) since the fifties. Mom confirmed that these lamps were on each end of a couch from the beginning--three different houses (and three different couches!) in Owensboro and two more homes in Texas. I feel a little bad for separating them now!

So here is where you come in--flesh out the story for me! Mom, since I know you're reading, can you fill me in on when and where these were purchased? And why?? Other readers, what do you know about HEDCO? Where can I learn more?