Vintage Dancing Hula Girl Lamp questions

Can anyone tell me the value of this motion Hula Lamp or the best place to have it repaired? The lamp is from the 50s, it stands about one and a half to two feet tall without a shade, is made of brass and has its original skirt. The lamp works but the motion dancing feature does not at this time. It appears there are some loose wires in the base so I'm assuming it can be easily repaired. Unfortunately there is no shade, the current owner is using an old basket as a shade. The lamp is in the Los Angeles area. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Value just depends on what someone is willing to pay for it so really no one can tell you that.

I have resold 3 of these lamps.

2 did not work and I sold them for $150 and $225
1 worked and was near mint and i sold it for close to $500
I resold all 3 about 2 years ago

As far as repairing these lamps the way they work is on each of her hips is a little toggle that attaches to the skirt. When the toggles rotate the skirt moves making it "hula"

Most of the vintage lamps were made out of cheap pot metal so they eventually wear out/the toggles rust off.

There is a lamp repair person in Hawaii who also makes new versions of them but as far as the mainland I am unsure as to where you could get it fixed and beyond the mechanism for the "hula" how it is wired.

Hope that somewhat helps you out

Thank you for the input Sandra Dee, I appreciate your assistance!

There was talk on this subject before on this site , they were saying you can get the motor for the hula works on line.

I just picked up a Dodge hula lamp at an estate sale that some knucklehead spray painted silver. I tried removing some of the silver paint to see what was underneath it, and found that it is one of the rarer ones that was originally painted in multiple colors! I guess the prior owner didn't like it(!). Unfortunately I don't see a way to remove all of the silver paint without removing the silver... so I'm trying to decide what to do: strip it all off and spray it a bronze color like most of them had, or strip it all off and try to restore it in similar original colors.

I'll most likely end up selling it; just not sure which way to go. It works fine, and has its original skirt and a nice red tiered fiberglass shade. A friend told me I should just sell it now, as is, but I feel like since I started the project, I want to finish it.

Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions.

If it were mine, I'd strip it all the way down, then decide. If the raw bronze looks nice I'd leave it there. There would be no age patina, but it would look like it did brand new. If it does not look good bare, try to repaint it. Do you have a picture of an original painted one?

Actually I can see the raw metal underneath in a couple of spots where all of the paint came off, and it appears to be a shiny silver colored metal - not bronze colored.

I have found a few photos online of an original painted one, so I could try and match the look.

Cool find !!. Be careful with any chemicals that are very harsh. The metal is what is commonly called "
pot metal". This type of metal can be either soft or brittle in different areas on the same piece. Imperfections in the molding process can be just below the surface such as air pockets and slag. I have seen many paints and treatments at the local craft stores that can simulate a bronze aged patina which may look good. Good luck and thanks for sharing.

Yes, these are usually made of "pot metal" which is a cheap zinc alloy and as noted, brittle and easy to break. if you are getting down to that as pictured, there is little you can do to salvage the original finish, but to try to replicate it. I think its a matter of how confident you are with paints. The painted ones were not exactly done in a particularly sophisticated way, but if you can replicate the look, I would go for it since yours was originally that way. There are some pictures online of the vintage paint schemes if you look around.

I would only go to bronze or dark copper paint as a last resort. It will be ok, but it will lack some of the metallic sheen and depth of the copper-plated pot metal versions.

GK

[ Edited by: Grand Kahu 2013-09-29 20:20 ]

You could also look into having it plated if you plan on keeping it. Now sure how much it's worth to you.

This looks like one with original paint:

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7863573

You might want to goof off cleaner, the vintage bike guys use it to remove house paint from vintage bikes and save the original paint underneath, Although the paint used for figures lke that might be thinner and not such great quality. But worth a try.

I don't think Goof Off would work in this case, since it's oil based spray paint over the original paint. Most likely going to repaint it as close to original colors as I can. The photos posted above and others I've found on the internet should be a good guide. I've painted stuff in the past, so I'm not too intimidated -- should look better than a single bronze spray color.

Hey guys, I'm kind of a noob but I recently bought a dodge headache style lamp on ebay. It came without a skirt but I'm planning on buying one soon. All there is though, on her hips are like a peg on each side. I'm not exactly sure how these connect to the skirt and how they produce the hula motion. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

On 2013-11-26 18:32, jemattson18 wrote:
Hey guys, I'm kind of a noob but I recently bought a dodge headache style lamp on ebay. It came without a skirt but I'm planning on buying one soon. All there is though, on her hips are like a peg on each side. I'm not exactly sure how these connect to the skirt and how they produce the hula motion. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There are tiny little loops on the skirt that slip over the toggles.

Its not very hard to figure out when you have the skirt and the lamp in the same place.

Ok, I got the skirt although I don't think it's the right one because it wont attach to the hula girl's hips. It goes around her but wont attach to the toggles. Here is a link to the one I bought:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231065525107?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

You said that there are hoops on the skirt that go around the pegs or toggles on the girl. I don't seem to understand how those hoops would stay on the toggles and how they would produce a "hula" motion. The toggles are just like round pegs that come out of the side of the girl's hips right?

Hello,
I have a hula lamp that my grandmother bought in the 40's I would like to sell. She looks just like the one in your photo.
It all still works, I have the original skirt. The original lampshade is missing, I recall it was red.
Do you know anyone who purchases? Sarah
615-268-4541