Gooseneck Lamp, Who???

Korber?

Noma could make sense. I have seen them where the wires terminate into a small male light socket plug.

Steve

possibly Kramer?I picked up one of these a couple years ago and it had the male socket plug.

http://www.collector-modeltrai...log_item/MT-0680486/

Kramer is modern reproduction and does not have the antique male socket plug or cloth wire.  Noma was 1930's, so the cloth wire and light-bulb-socket plug fit.  I have some of the two-bulb, crossarm-style lights (just like the Kramer reproductions but much older), same story; green, cloth wire, socket plug.  I have never been able to pin them down for sure, but Noma is a good guess.  Not Marx or Flyer, although both sold very similar items. 

david

what is it a modern repo of? Mine did have the male socket, and does look to be very old. someone here led me to the link i posted. I'd be interested to know just what it is I do have. Thanks!

That's the 64-thousand-dollar question.

The link you posted is some modern Kramer lights for sale at Trainz.

Here is the Kramer website, showing the same lights.

The old ones I have are practically identical to the Kramer lights, except old and with the cloth wire and light-socket-screw-plugs.  

My guess is that the Kramers are modern reproductions of Noma 1930's lights, but don't know that for sure.  

Since the gooseneck lights Steve originally asked about seem to be the same old green, and also come with the cloth wire and light-socket-screw-plugs, we're guessing that maybe they also were made by Noma c. 1930's.

But all this is best guess so far.  There seems to be zippo info available on Noma train layout lamps from the 1930's, which is what we need.

Noma was best known (outside of train layouts) for their Christmas lights.  Reference to Noma Electric Company here.  

I believe that the old light-socket-screw-plugs on the train layout lamps may be a good indication of Noma because it would be compatible with Noma's Christmas light strings from the same era - 1930's.

WWII era and early postwar period, they made wood and cardstock toys, and switched to plastic in the 1950's, which is where the famous Noma Station comes in.

The Kramer two light post is very much like a Noma lamp post. The upper portion resembles a prewar Marx, but the Marx lower part is on a pedestal, not a flat base.

Here are some early Marx

Pretty sure these are also Noma

They are also very similar to the American Flyer 223 lamp post Greenberg version B:

But but with some significant differences.

You're a Marx man, so I'm sure you are well aware that your goosneck lamps are also similar in construction to the Marx 419 single lamp, especially at the base, but with enough differences to obviously not be a match. The technology for making inexpensive tinplate street lamps was pretty limited in range: these guys were all trying to do the same thing, and wound up making similar-looking lights.

I agree that your picture of the green light posts with the crossarm are likely Noma.  The two tinplate halves are held together by a ring that presses down over the top finial.  Kramer did a very good job of replicating them.

david

here's mine.The halves are held together with a wire, so I'm guessing the ring came off at one point.

Yup, that's it.  Sure wish we could find an old Noma catalog with pictures of these lights in it, that would settle the matter.  But even shy of that, I think it is the most likely solution.

I like that corner of your layout; the old lamp post goes great lighting the stairs of the Marx walk-over, and having the walk-over right at the end of the truss bridge makes for a neat effect. 

david

well thanks hojack...never thought of all that.

Thank you Ron!

Steve, I'd say that's it!

david

Yup, that's it.

Steve

Thanks Ron,

I've wondered about those lamp posts for years too.  Mystery solved

Greg

Here is a site on old Christmas lighting. And here is an article on NOMA

thanks for those links CW