Vintage Lighting "Little Stage Lighting" Collection

[Les]

I guess you could say I'm channeling my inner @ship . Since I moved in to a house with a garage back in May, I've been going through older fixtures I've acquired over the years and found that I have a decent assortment of fixtures made by Little Stage Lighting. A few were given to me by an old school, a couple others from our Center for Visual Arts (more of a multi-use/art gallery space and not the theater proper) and one or two from a church in Dallas. I also have a couple of the F-10 Opto Followspots sitting in a storage unit (taking me a while to move out of that thing).

These are nothing spectacular or relevant, but I seem to come across them every few years since I live in a suburb just 25 miles north of where they were manufactured. And since stage lighting has changed more in the last ten years than it did in the previous fifty, I enjoy having a collection of older fixtures. Maybe someday I'll collect enough to rehang my rep plot for April Fools Day .

A couple need to be rewired (had their asbestos whips chopped off years ago) but the rest are functional aside from needing some minor strain relief and cosmetic work. I imagine they will find a spot on a piece of unistrut in my garage so they can enjoy a quiet retirement.

I found it odd that the axial fixtures have stepped lenses, but I can't be sure that these are the lens tubes they shipped with. The axials also have the same ginormous reflector hole, though centered. They are now equipped with standard TP-22 style sockets, but could have been converted from pre-focus sockets sometime in the past. I'll look a little closer at them tomorrow.
Of the ones that work, none appeared incorrect from an optical standpoint - aside from the artifacts you would expect from stepped lenses, radially-mounted pre-focus lamps, and huge reflector holes.

 

[microstar]

I have two Little N6 500 watt fresnels in great condition that are yours for the shipping if you don't have any specimens already. Also a collection of Little spec sheets and price list from Sept. 1986 and a Catalog 7 (no date given) that I can send you if you don't have these. My undergraduate tech teacher, a Baylor grad, knew Bill Little quite well and took me to the Little shop once back in the late 1960's. It was quite a busy place back then. Our college theatre dept. in Missouri was equipped with their fixtures, including two F10 Opto followspots. Hard to forget those red knobs.

 

[Les]

I have two Little N6 500 watt fresnels in great condition that are yours for the shipping if you don't have any specimens already. Also a collection of Little spec sheets and price list from Sept. 1986 and a Catalog 7 (no date given) that I can send you if you don't have these. My undergraduate tech teacher, a Baylor grad, knew Bill Little quite well and took me to the Little shop once back in the late 1960's. It was quite a busy place back then. Our college theatre dept. in Missouri was equipped with their fixtures, including two F10 Opto followspots. Hard to forget those red knobs.

Those red knobs always stuck out to me, even as a kid. Visiting various multi-use centers, I couldn't name a 360Q or a Series 100 by Little, but I did know that "these are the brown ones my school has" and these are the "ones with the big red knobs".

I would love to take you up on your generous offer, @microstar ! I will send you a PM.

 

[ship]

Amazes me I grew up a few miles from the last location of Hub/Major, yet never heard of them in growing up.
On my part I only have one 2" PC Little Stage Lighting fixture confirmed - photo's of the Fresnels above might clear up some mystery Fresnels and Leko fixtures.
Red knobs are also a feature of LECO brand.

LECO / Lighting Equipment Company, c.1950's/60's - part of Grand Stage Lighting, later was bought out by Major.
LECO Electric Lamp Company, 133 Mercer St. C.1921 Listed for 10 year lease. Mfr. Of Electric Lighting Equipment. ?Arch. Fixture Mfr., associated / sales rep. with Panama of Chicago & San Francisco c.1920. Panama Lite - ceiling Dome out of SF.
Little Stage Lighting Company, 10507 Harry Hines Blvd. Dallas, Texas 75220, Stage Lighting Fixtures Dist. & Mfr. (1978 Catalog #6)

Possible red knobs were in use by more than one brand, or one brand buying other brand's fixtures? Hub was well known for buying other fixtures and resaling them, or even buying the old castings from other brands and fabricating them later in obsolete. Photo's of what both of you have?

 

[Les]

@ship , I may have overstated how often I come across Little fixtures. The F-10 Opto's do seem to come out of the woodwork. Similar to the Alt/DynaSpot range, it seems like everyone had one. My theatre had two that were retired - one was given to me as a teen, which I took apart and lost all the pieces over the years, and another that is still in one piece (minus the stand) still in the followspot loft. I remember seeing another at our oldest middle school, also in pieces and referred to as "the dinosaur". Not sure what became of it - probably long gone. I acquired two more from a church in Dallas (along with a few of the ellipsoidals pictured). One has its stand and is in good operating condition, and another with a makeshift stand and probably works but the conza lens has a "Y" crack. Both still have the large incandescent lamps. I have a lead on another, condition unknown, in the mechanical room of a second church in Dallas. May trade it for labor in replacing some Par lamps with LED equivalents. I also see them pop up on Facebook Marketplace from time to time, usually either $50 or $500. No matter the price, they aren't typically something I would buy. I very much enjoy using the stands for various things around the theatre. Unfortunately I had one that I loaned to someone for his church's men's retreat and was never seen or heard from again. Ironic, that.

As for my intention with these? Not sure. Perhaps restore/cannibalize and rehome. With the hood taken off, they make quite a fascinating display of optics.

The ellipsoidals have come to me from a few places. Two were from our Gallery space in town and were hand-me-downs from the community theatre when they upgraded to a real, fully-equipped theatre. Seems like every Little fixture I find is second or third-hand. They still have a Little fresnel that I may ask for since it is not installed, has asbestos whips, and their space is typically "installed once and never touched". I "upgraded" them to 360Q 6x12 fixtures since they see minimal use but at least the lamps are easier to get.

As for the ellipsoidals in my collection, I have found that I have (4) E106 and (3) E206 (axial). I'll post the catalog page as well as some pictures I took tonight.

Note: Unfortunately my internet connection is uncooperative. I'll update with the pics tomorrow.

 

[derekleffew]

...On my part I only have one 2" PC Little Stage Lighting fixture confirmed ...

Little Stage Lighting c.1965 Radial Leko Restoration.

This is going to be a long post and its’ written over many weeks.. I’ll break it up into chapters into how the restoration as done and with what parts. For first post, sorry, long observations on it but details to get out. Light is done, just the details on how and observations to post...

www.controlbooth.com

 

[Les]

E106





Note that the knobs are mismatched on this, and the rest of my E106 units. This isn't a factory thing - just a case of me swapping parts and stealing knobs from newer(?) fixtures that were missing their lamp caps. I assume Little's popular red knobs were switched to black in later years.

Also of note is the lack of step lens as described in @ship 's write-up and the catalog picture posted. I am assuming my E106 units contain (2) 6x9 lenses instead. Possibly a change sometime through the manufacturing run or a case of lens tubes being swapped.

E206





The E206 fixtures I own look and feel newer than the E106's shown. All knobs are black, as is the paint job, as opposed Little's signature brownish-grey. Interesting anecdote about the grey color, possibly read here on CB, was that Bill Little was proud of the color, exclaiming that it was the color of dust.

Also noted: the mismatched lamp cap (probably scavenged) and the misaligned lens tube. These both have step lenses - which may or may not be original tubes. Also noted is the large reflector hole, though using a modern TP-22 socket and (currently) EHD lamp. Was there a T-12 incandescent variant of the TP-22 lamp or is the large hole an oversight/holdover?

 

[derekleffew]

Was there a T-12 incandescent variant of the TP-22 lamp or is the large hole an oversight/holdover?

Nope. In order to make the halogen cycle work, the lamp envelope must be significantly smaller in a T/H than in an incandescent lamp.
I believe the first lamp to be used axially (other than the double-ended ones used in ERS almost exclusively by Kliegl Bros.) was the EHJ/EGG/EGE, T/H versions of the T12.
I never knew Little made axial units.
The large hole in the reflector must be a holdover--Kliegl made the same mistake. Why anyone would think one need a 2" hole for a 1/2" lamp is beyond me.

 

[JonCarter]

Cooling air flow, maybe? The T-H lamps have/had the same amount of heat to dissipate as the conventional inkies only in a smaller package. Or, they just used the same spun reflectors they had in stock when they changed the lamp type.

 

[ship]

Little Stage Lighting c.1965 Radial Leko Restoration.

This is going to be a long post and its’ written over many weeks.. I’ll break it up into chapters into how the restoration as done and with what parts. For first post, sorry, long observations on it but details to get out. Light is done, just the details on how and observations to post...

www.controlbooth.com

And another fixture - I do remember the odd mounting knob placement in reminded of it.... Totally need to re-hang, add more "done" fixtures to and inventory again all the lights. Basically re-hang the pipes for more gear. Good that you are my reminder - completely forgot that style of fixture done. Don't even remember where it is in the inventory in something to find it tomorrow. I remember the silly mount location, but not the fixture or where it hangs. Thanks in that also missing my inventory.