This is a very big Aladdin shade! It measures 20 1/2 inches at the bottom, 11 inches at the top, and is 10 3/4 inches tall. It was designed to fit Aladdin's first 12 inch vase lamps as well as their first floor lamps.
This particular shade is a parchment shade No. 640. I can't date it to the exact year but it had to be made in either 1930 or 1931 since those are the only years the 20 1/2 inch diameter shades were made.
One thing you might note on these big shades is that the top and bottom metal shade loops are actually sewn to the parchment shade material. They are also all hand-decorated.
This is the parchment No. 641 shade. It is another large shade measuring 20 1/2 inches at the bottom, 11 inches at the top and 10 3/4 inches tall. It was also made in either 1930 or 1931. It was specifically designed to fit onto the 12 inch glass vase lamps or the 1250 and 1251 "bird cage" floor lamps. The shades for the bird cage floor lamps could be ordered with the double rings required at the top of the shade to allow it to fit onto the shade holder of the floor lamps. These large shades are some of the oldest paper shades ever made by the Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company.
This is another of the 1930-1931 parchment shades. It is No. 642 and was restored to what you see here. When it was acquired it was very dirty and dark. Some of the sewing was broken and the banding separated from the top ring. There was a tear in one spot and a series of small holes at the bottom edge just above the banding. The shade could not be restored to perfect condition, and when viewed closely the damage and repairs are readily apparent. I photographed the best side of it, but even with the damage that still exists the shade looks 100% better than when we acquired it. For a shade that is nearing a hundred years old it doesn't look that bad!
This is the No. 644 Aladdin parchment shade. It dates to 1930 or 1931 and was designed to fit the 12 inch vase lamps or the Aladdin bird cage floor lamps. You can see the stitching that secures the top and bottom shade rings in this photo. As these shades age the paper becomes brittle and great care must be taken when handling them since the stitching actually perforates the shade at both the top and bottom edges. When the paper was new it was very strong, but as it ages there is a tendency for the shade to separate along the perforations caused by the stitching.
