Pufferfish Lamp, ca. 1950s-1960s
That’s right, this electric lamp is made from the skin of a pufferfish with a fluorescent bulb inside. Although these type of lamps enjoyed brief popularity in the 1950s and 1960s as elements of nautical décor, their origins go further back. By 1900, it was already a common practice in Japan to make pufferfish lanterns. The back of the dried fish was cut out and a candle suspended by wires served as the light source. There is evidence that other Pacific island nations created these lanterns as well.
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