Before there was Hollywood glamour, there was Chicago hustle. The Revere Camera Company built its unlikely dynasty from two sprawling plants on the city's South Side, eventually employing 1,500 workers turning out 8mm cameras alongside electric drills and tape recorders. At the helm: Sam Briskin, whose aggressive pricing and acquisitions made Revere a household name — and later his son Ted, Revere's headline-generating playboy president.

This Revere Eight camera never made it to the editing room. Instead, it found its way to the workshop of Rick Held of Two Loose Tools in Southern California, who transformed it into a sculptural table lamp — its dark bronze body and chrome lens mounted on a polished stem above a sleek black base. A black shade with warm gold interior lining crowns it. Brass-toned hardware at the socket adds just the right note of age. The original wiring wraps the stem like a period detail that couldn't have been designed better.

Two USB ports are built into the base. History and function, together at last.

Details Repurposed Revere Eight 8mm movie camera · Black shade with gold interior · Dual USB ports in base (5V/2A, functions when lamp is on) · Warm white LED filament bulb included · 16.25"h × 6"w × 6"d · For use in U.S. and Canada only (110–120V) · Handcrafted by Rick Held, Two Loose Tools, Southern California