'PHILABRASCO' Lamp

Discussion in 'Antique Discussion' started by Drew, Jun 30, 2018.

  1. Drew

    Drew Well-Known Member

    Anyone know anything about the 'PHILABRASCO' company. Found a signed lamp circa 1910, painted brass. I imagine they made a variety of brass items.
     
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  2. Figtree3

    Figtree3 What would you do if you weren't afraid?

    Looks like it was actually PHILABRASGO -- with a G instead of a C. I found a few hits with that... It was apparently short for Pittsburgh Lamp, Brass, and Glass Company. (Interesting that it has "PHILA" at the beginning instead of "PITT"!)

    This old item on Worthpoint gives a brief history of the company (don't know where the seller got the info): https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-brass-bankers-lamp-base-circa-1905

    Under the above link it says, "History of the famous Philabrasgo name:
    After years in business, Nicholas Kopp in 1901 took on new partners and renamed his company Pittsburgh Lamp, Brass and Glass Company . "Pilabrasgo" was their logo.

    In 1926 Pilabrasgo went bankrupt and Nicholas Kopp reorganized and renamed his company Kopp Glass, Inc. It recently celebrated seventy-five years of business."

    Here is an advertisement from 1914:
    https://books.google.com/books?id=q...xgQ6AEIKTAB#v=onepage&q="philabrasgo"&f=false
     
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  3. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    I didn't explore it all, but searching for 'Pilabrasgo' seems fruitful.
     
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  4. Figtree3

    Figtree3 What would you do if you weren't afraid?

    I think you're right! It makes more sense, too, for a Pittsburgh company not to use PHIL at the beginning of its name. :)

    This page has a longer history:
    http://www.thelampworks.com/lw_companies_plbg.htm
     
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  5. Drew

    Drew Well-Known Member

    Thanks to all... very helpful ~
     
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  6. Drew

    Drew Well-Known Member

    It is curious why they used 'PHILA', instead of 'PITT'. They had no manufacturing in Philadelphia, only a showroom.
     
  7. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Since we haven't seen your item, we don't know what it says. But Pittsburgh Lamp, Glass & Brass used Pilabrasgo. If yours says something else, presumably it is something else.
     
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  8. Drew

    Drew Well-Known Member

    It's a 'Philabrasgo' signed lamp, was just wondering why they used the 'Phila' portion in their trade name when they were in Pittsburgh, not Philadelphia.
     
  9. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    I can't find any evidence that there ever was a Philabrasgo company; only a tendency to misread Pilabrasgo, as in this 1914 ad:

    upload_2018-7-2_20-21-41.png
     
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