by Ann Withanee — October 14, 2011—Capturing the aura of the past may have a nostalgic glow, but the production team of a television series faced two problems in its effort to replicate vintage luminaires and lampposts from the 1920’s Atlantic City boardwalk. First was time. To meet the production schedule for the HBO Boardwalk Empire television series, the custom fixtures had to be designed, produced, and fully working within ten weeks. The other was that original drawings were no longer available, pushing the team to use vintage photos of the actual boardwalk to develop the design concepts.
Sentry Electric, a responsive source of standard and custom, historically styled exterior lighting, swung into action, ordering raw materials and components, followed by machining, welding, painting and assembly. It met the tough ten-week deadline so that Boardwalk Empire was glowing with new street lamps for the authentic replication of one of New Jersey’s most famous landmark destinations.
The original lamppost was a stunning work of early 20th century artistry and craftsmanship, explains Sentry Electric. A cast iron base and shaft were adorned with flutes, scroll-work and decorative, tapered transition pieces. It stood approximately 20-ft. tall with a large round globe at the top. A third of the way down from the top, a 4-way cross arm with smaller globes extended outward. Each cross arm has a distinctive finial on top with s-shaped scroll work underneath. The frosted glass globes, when illuminated, hung like clouds over the nighttime boardwalk landscape.
From top to bottom, Sentry Electric’s replica lamppost assembly measures 18 feet, which allows it to be suitably scaled for Boardwalk Empire’s production set. The lower portion consists of a 6-in. diameter fluted aluminum shaft with decorative Sentry Electric clamp-on base. The upper portion consists of a 5-in. diameter shaft with attachment points for the four bracket arms and a tenon for the upper luminaire assembly. Each luminaire is outfitted with a standard medium base socket, which gives Boardwalk Empire’s lighting designers many options for lamp type, light levels, color temperature, and lighting control.
Sentry Electric’s president Shepard Kay, proud of his company’s quick response performance and the glowing results, says, “When Boardwalk Empire presented us with this opportunity, our entire organization embraced the challenge of completing this project on time, on budget, and within rigid design parameters.”
In Boardwalk Empire’s first season, among many other notable achievements, it received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series.
