Gordon-Van Tine Co.

Gordon-Van Tine of Davenport, Iowa sold complete kit houses by mail, and its catalogs bundled the lighting that went with them. That makes its fixture pages a precise record of what actually hung in a particular model of bungalow or foursquare.

The selection favors modest Craftsman lanterns and Colonial Revival fixtures sized for the company's house plans, often shown room by room — a rare chance to see period lighting in its intended architectural context.

For anyone restoring a recognizable kit house, matching the Gordon-Van Tine pages to the floor plan is the surest way to return period-correct fixtures to the right rooms.