Fifty funky years later, lava lamps still groovy

LONDON - Call them ’60s relics or hippy home accessories, lava lamps have been casting their dim but groovy light on interiors for half a century, having hit British shelves 50 years ago yesterday.

A British company began marketing their original creation as an “exotic conversation piece’’ in 1963. Since then, millions of models of the much-copied invention have been sold worldwide. The design was created by British inventor Edward Craven-Walker, who was inspired by an odd-looking liquid-filled egg timer he saw in a pub in southwest Britain. The former World War II pilot spent years transforming the concept into a home lighting accessory, having recognized the potential for such an invention during anything-goes ’60s Britain.

“Everything was getting a little bit psychedelic,” said Christine Baehr, the second of Craven-Walker’s four wives. “There was Carnaby Street and The Beatles and things launching into space and he thought it was quite funky and might be something to launch into.”

Despite the decline of British manufacturing, with numerous well-known brands dying or moving to countries with cheaper labor costs, lava lamp making company Mathmos has remained at their factory in southwest Britain still employing Craven-Walker’s tried and tested formula. AP