Join with us at Bespoke Lights in celebrating the Queen’s 90 birthday. Although the Queen celebrated her 90 birthday on 21 April she also has an official birthday in June each year. The Queen’s Official Birthday Parade, otherwise known as the Trooping the Colour, will take place this year on June 11th in central London.
The Queen has dedicated her long reign to serving our country and the Commonwealth with great dignity and has recently entered the record books as the longest reigning British monarch, surpassing the reign of her great- great grandmother, Queen Victoria.
The Queen has seen a great many changes during her lifetime and as our special tribute we are taking a nostalgic look back at how lighting has changed over this period. In this blog we are concentrating on the period from the Queen’s birth in 1926 up to her Silver Jubilee in 1977.
Princess Elizabeth, as she was then, was born on 21 April 1926. Electricity was by then well established and the Art Deco period of the 1920’s and 1930’s was in full swing. This era saw the birth of the modern lighting industry with a whole new world of lighting opening up. Light fittings became more versatile and the trendy Hollywood Deco look was the height of fashion. With the advent of lighting designers and engineers, commercial, theatrical and hospitality lighting was becoming big business. Many of our public buildings were now lit with neon lights and designers were transforming the look of hotels, theatres and restaurants with dramatic lighting. Cheaper mass production techniques made Deco lights more affordable and no longer just for the rich and famous. Chrome was the latest material and combined with glass was the perfect combination for achieving the shiny sleek look we associate with Deco lights. Art Deco lighting used strong geometric shapes and patterns for dramatic effect and coloured stained glass was used to produce Tiffany style Art Deco lights.
Art Deco lasted for around 20 years or so – or did it? This was one of the most stylish periods in our history and the Deco look with its timeless elegant beauty was to re-emerge in later years, albeit in a slightly less flamboyant style.
During the late 1930’s and 1940’s the country was in the grips of WW2 – the most destructive conflict in history. Austerity measures, black-outs, general shortages and making the best use of what was available was the order of the day. Princess Elizabeth began undertaking public duties during the war and served in the ATS. Shortly after the war in 1947 she married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. He was granted the tile of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh shortly before the marriage and he will celebrate his 95 birthday on 10th June this year. The first of the Queen’s four children (Prince Charles) was born in 1948 and in 1952 she became Queen. The mid-1950’s and the 1960’s were boom years that saw great changes – ‘out with the old and in with the new’ for we were now entering the age of the consumer.
The Fabulous Fifties saw the introduction of vibrant, bright and bold light fittings that were largely influenced by the love of all things American. Similar designs continued into the Swinging Sixties although they were now influenced by pop culture with London becoming the hub of all things psychedelic and groovy. Love them or hate them – the mesmerising lava lamps are probably one of the most iconic table lamps from the 1960’s. Lighting from the 1950’s and 1960’s is having a bit or a revival at present with the advent of the mid-century modern and urban lighting styles being recognised as specific design movements in their own right.
Retro lighting from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s is all about taking designs from this period and creating a bold splash of colour with ceiling pendants which are perfect for hanging over kitchen islands and for lighting over tables in restaurants and coffee shops.
Many have described the 1970’s as tacky and brash for we are now in the ‘disco era’ but having said that we were also becoming more socially aware. This period saw a move towards more eco-friendly and efficient lighting following the energy crisis and 3-day week in the mid 1970’s. Updated chandeliers were certainly used to give a glam rock look and we still favoured the bold colours and geometric patterns from the 1960’s but light fittings from the mid to late 1970’s featured earthier colours combined with more textural elements.
In 1977 we celebrated the Silver Jubilee which marked the 25th anniversary of the Queens accession to the throne. In the second part of our tribute we will look at the later years from the 1980’s to the present time.