Genevieve Baker's Biblical Lamps

Genevieve Baker's Biblical Lamps are a one-of-a-kind display at the Dickey County Heritage Museum Center in Oakes, North Dakota.

Mrs. Baker came up with an idea in 1955 when she was preparing to teach a Sunday School class on the Light of Christ and his rulership (John 8:12 & Rev. 5:13).

She thought of the crown as rulership, sceptre as authority, and the orb as control of the world. She made a working model, using a stainless steel kettle as the base, and having copper tubing welded to this for the electric cord to connect to the top, which was an ordinary lamp globe. Wire prongs were welded to the socket to support the globe. She then painted the globe and added decor for gems.

In 1963 Genevieve took her working model to a South Dakota Inventors Congress, where it was voted the most popular invention of the competition. She was awarded $25 in silver dollars and a silver tray decorated with a ribbon. Since her first model was symbolic of British rulership, picturing their parliament, she applied for a patent through a British patent attorney and received six patents on her lamps. She thought this would make it possible to find a manufacturer to produce them. A firm in the British Colony of Hony Kong was agreeable to make them, but then the cost of shipping was too great and made the idea too prohibitive. The seven lamps, therefore, are the only ones in existence. A copywright for them may also be found in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

After storing the lamps in her attic for many years, Genevieve contacted the Dickey County Historical Society of Oakes in 1994 when the group was preparing to turn the old First National Bank building into the Heritage Museum Center. At that time she donated her one-of-a-kind lamps and a display case to the museum as a permanent exhibit for visitors to realize the significance of Christ's light and rule.

The exhibit includes:

• St. Paul's Cathedral in London
• British Parliament in London
• The first North Dakota Capital and Badlands
• Illinois Capitol and the Lincoln House
• White House and the U.S. Capitol
• St. James Bible
• Outer Space of Exploration

Genevieve Baker was a long time resident of the Guelph, North Dakota located in Dickey County until moving with her husband, Lester, to Aberdeen, SD in 1997.