Written 2025-02-22
I was passing through Moncton today and stopped at Value Village. I always go to the electronics section first, mainly to look for audio equipment, computer stuff, and occasionally lamps. I've owned a lovely three-armed gooseneck table lamp with multicoloured shades since I was a young child – I'm not exactly sure what the style is called, but when I fed a picture of it to Grok it called it a "Medusa-style lamp" (although I'd take that with a grain of salt). I've seen versions of the lamp that are designed to be floor lamps, and have been seeking after one for a while. This is what brought me to the lamp section today, and although I didn't find exactly what I wanted, I lucked out nonetheless.
My first find was a lamp identical to the one I have at my parents' house, so naturally I had to grab it. Here it is after being cleaned up and placed in my living room:
The second find was even more unexpected and perhaps an even bigger treat. I have a thing for midcentury modern design, and for bold-coloured pieces (which is probably why I love the last lamp so much), and so my eyes were naturally drawn to the yellow, midcentury-style sconce on the bottom shelf of the lighting section. Upon further inspection, I was shocked to find that it was a real midcentury piece from none other than Luxo, the legendary inventors of the L-1 lamp which inspired Luxo Jr., Pixar's mascot. I paid just $4.99 for the lamp, well below what one would usually pay for any Luxo product, especially an iconic antique. Conveniently, the light above our sink is out, so I installed it there.
As a long-time collector of lamps, I'm thrilled to finally own a Luxo, and a yellow one at that. I'm also very happy to have two "Medusa" table lamps, and hope to one day complete the set with a floor lamp.