::: Swinging Sixties Lovely Lava Lamps.... :::
More 60s Crestworth Products Documented.
Non-Lava products included: The Traction Lamp, The Cannon Timer and the Mistrolite. These can be seen in a part of the Crestworth Ltd 1960s brochure, below. Further to this this opens the discussion, showing that Crestworth was a leader in kinetic lighting with original ideas and products, yet they ventured out of their main market which was Astro based.
The Ever Popular Glitterlite: -Safe Small glitter floating slowing in coloured fluid.
Below one can see two examples of the Crestworth Glitterlite. The Glitterlite unlike the Crestworth Living Jewel lamps featured slow moving smaller glitter pieces in an array of beutiful coloured liquid. They are often seen in the Astro Nordic Enclosure, which as a very elegant enclosure. Unlike the living jewels which are fast moving and are solvent based, the Glitterlite is safe and non-solvent based, but features slower moving glitter.
Glitterlite bottles are identical to common day Mathmos Jet bottles. They will work in Jet bases and in all cylindrical Crestworth bases such as: the Nordic De-luxe base for example.
Distinctively Scandinavian "ASTRO NORDIC" A favourite in modern homes and in hotels clubs and executive suits. Tasteful colour combinations. All metal in up-to-the-minute silver or copper anodic finish. Particularly suitable for contemporary decor. The left image below, shows the lamps assembled. The right image below shows the base which stands on a cone. Max 40w is recommended in the base. Finished with a felted base.
Old Meets New in The Traction Lamp:
The Traction Lamp is far shorter in height than the Astro Lantern. As one can see the traction lamp is essentially a model steam engine which has been placed inside a lantern, representing new and old meeting together. Copper finish and handle similar design to the Astro Coach Lantern. There was also two editions of the Traction Lamp. The romance of the steam age captured by present design techniques with the soothing movement of turning wheels throwing a light of the POWER OF THE PAST! Lamp in bright copper anodic finish. Please see examples of this product below:
The image assortment below shows a recent Traction Lamp that was featured for sale. It shows once again the form and the interior where are perfectly formed model steam engine is placed inside a lantern style enclosure. Simply amazing. Only Crestworth would have produced something so amazing as this. The back portion of the glass has Made in England written.
The images below are courtesy of Preston, who kindly took images of his Crestworth Traction Lamp. They show the product from various angles, the aesthetic and the form of the product. The Traction lamp is a true piece of beautiful craftwork. The Traction lamps are a different kind of kinetic lighting and shows how diverse the Crestworth product range was at the time.
Below: Take a peak into the inside of the Traction Lamp from Crestworth. Thank you to Preston for the images below.
Additional Images: Please note the side shots which show the painted black base. The lightbulb is featured on the top of the design which gives the yellow colour to the traction lamp. These lamps represent a model steam engine encased beautifully into a lantern enclosure. Thank you to Preston for his images of his Traction Lamp.
The Cannon Timer: can be seen in the image below. Thank you to Bohdan for the images below. Different images and angles of the Cannon Timer can be seen pictured below.
The Cannon Timer features movable wheels and the body of the product moves up and down. The bands also move so one can select a time frame to time. This model has only been seen with the clear/red colour combination. It is unknown the various colour combinations that this product featured.
With its elegant Gold Plated finish, here is the ideal ornamental telephone timer (or luxury egg timer) with a difference, its fascinating rising coloured oil action is just the thing for those who prefer an intriguing "gentle reminder" to tire-some split-second accuracy). The Cannon Timer is a very elegant yet fragile piece, the model above is original and very elegant. It is a non electrical item from Crestworth and probably the only non-electrical item in the Crestworth product lineup.
Above Left: B/W Image of Crestworth Factory during the vintage years. Above Right: Modern Day Factory in 1990s. Although the factory has decreased in size since the 1990s.
Documents show that Crestworth also sold Retarding Action fluid for lamps that ran in situations that were hotter than normal and Accelerating Action Fluid, to speed up the lamp's flowing power.
::: 1960s Fabulous Crestworth Princess :::
Key for Above: 1. Copper Cap, 2. Liquid Wax and a special formula for fast start-up time encased in a huge cylindrical glass enclosure (Original Colour Combinations are unknown). Crestworth and Mathmos in the past have produced master refills for the Crestworth Princess. In this case the end user has been allowed to choose the wax and masterfluid liquid colours. 3. Copper base to house internal light fitting. 4. Wooden Legs.
Little is known about the Crestworth Princess, however it is one of the largest lamps ever produced by Crestworth. Featuring the same globe as the Crestworth Giant and Mathmos Fireball it uses liquid wax to accelerate startup time of the lamp. They can be dated by the fact they were used in early episodes of Doctor Who (please see images below). Therefore one can deduce the Crestworth Princess is from the 60s. Please note that the original colour combinations of the Crestworth Princess are unknown and this model never featured in any brochures.
Crestworth Princess was used in Doctor Who (below) The Princess used liquid wax to accelerate the warm-up time of the lamp, this means it is extremely hard for it to be moved as the lamp will cloud when moved as the wax is not solid. Click on the image below to visit our TV section where you can see a clip of the Princess in Doctor Who.
::: 1960s TV Appearances: The Prisoner :::
Early Crestworth Astros can be seen in the Cult 60s British TV series, The Prisoner. Please see below for screen shots from episodes 1-17. Early Crestworth Astros have shallower caps, thus when the fluid hasn't expanded when the lamp is a cold state, it shows the level of fluid. This was later changed with wider neck bottles and a much deeper cap.
In the image below (right side), one can see a two bottle design stacked lava lamp, which features two cylindrical lava bottles stacked on top of each other. There is no marking of Crestworth on the product, however looking at the colours and the top seal, it is most likely to be a Crestworth lamp. Further to this, I do believe that Crestworth was asked to create display material/ lamps for certain TV shows at the time.
During the episodes this particular lamp does not seem to operate very well, this could be for a number of reasons for example: the lamp may not be hot enough, but I do believe this could be caused by the generated heat from the bulb that powers the top bottle. The heat given from the top bulb may interfere with the flow of the lava in both bottles.
flowoflava: TV Section.
The Crestworth Astro was the hippest thing around in the 1960s and 70s, living in many college student's rooms, naturally it was shown on some TV shows. We have created a small TV section with clips and videos that feature Crestworth inventions. Click on the TV below to enter.
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Special Gallery: Crestworth Galaxy Photo Montage.
Special Gallery: Crestworth Phantom Lite.
Special Gallery: Mathmos Initial Modern Range.