I picked up an antique floor lamp a few years ago at a garage sale for about $20. It is made out of carved oak with a nightstand built around the pole, and to be completely honest, I really just fell in love with the convenience of it and wanted to bring it home.
When I got it to my house, I cleaned it up really well and polished the wood. I also went out and purchased a new shade for it, as the one that was on the lamp was pretty tattered, and it looked like it was virtually brand-new.
Now came the part that had concerned me since I had left the garage sale. I asked the man running it on a number of occasions if the lamp actually worked, and he assured me that it did. Unfortunately, he was moving up to Boston the next day and had rented a hotel room for that night because he had already had his electricity shut off.
I gently screwed in the light bulb, plugged in the lamp and turned the switch twice, and sure enough, it turned right on. It was so beautiful and well-maintained that I invited my parents, who are also into antiques, over to show them the antique floor lamp.
They both marveled at it and were especially impressed with the fact that I had only paid $20 for the lamp. They actually asked if the guy had anything else that might be worth buying and eventually drove by his house to take a look around.
I wanted to have it appraised, so I took the lamp to a local antiques dealer who knew an appraiser. He said it was difficult to determine its value because the lamp's make was scratched out on the base, and told me he had a friend who could probably tell just be looking at the lamp about its worth.
I never had the opportunity to meet with the man, and I still wonder how much my antique floor lamp is actually worth, but the strange thing is that I would never sell it to anyone. I don't know its value or even how old it is, but I do know that it is mine and I have fallen in love with the lamp.
I have never even had so much as a flicker with my antique floor lamp and it is still in pristine condition. I have already been in contact with a local man who works on lamps just in case that something ever happens to it. My desire is that one day I can pass the lamp on to my son or daughter and they will have as much pleasure from it that it has brought me.