The Genie of the Lamp

I think my mother was about sixteen when she found the lamp. She was strolling down a street in London,which had been devastated by bombs. She was surrounded by the blackened shells of burned out buildings and piles of debris. She spotted a little shop, which had, somehow, remained intact, although the building was dusty and black with soot. It was a pawn/junk shop and the window was full of assorted items, from jewellery to boas, evening bags, medals, buttons and silver teapots.

She had only sixpence in her pocket, but she couldn't resist going inside to explore. There were some beautiful things inside, furniture and art work which seemed incongruous with the kind of shop it was. The proprieter may have scavenged some of the expensive, bombed out homes in the area, late at night, for his treasures, although looting was strictly forbidden.

Mother couldn't afford any of it and so she wandered down the aisle to a big table of junky looking objects. A lot of the things were blackened as though they had been in a fire, confirming her suspicions. She dug down through a heap of fire irons, bellows, copper kettles and cooking utensils and pulled out a very old fashioned looking lamp. It was completely black, with a thick layer of some resinous material all over the surface. This had definitely survived a bomb blast. She did not know what it was made of, but she liked the shape of it. It looked like the lamp Aladdin found in the thieves' cave. My mother loved that story. She wanted the lamp.

She called out to the owner of the shop and asked the price of the lamp. I believe he told her it was a shilling. She was disappointed, she really wanted the lamp.

"I only have sixpence,"she called back to him. "Sold," he said.

She was delighted. He wrapped it up and she took it home and put it in her room. It sat there for a week or two until she got around to cleaning it. Then, one day she decided to try and get the sticky tar-like substance off and took it to the kitchen sink. Her family thought she had wasted her money but she was happy with her lamp. She scraped at the bottom with her fingernail to try and read the inscription there. She was amazed when pure silver gleamed back at her.

She cleaned it very carefully, hoping the whole lamp was silver. It was, and it had the markings of a famous silver smith on the base. She also realized, as the decorative work was slowly revealed that it was very old. She had very little knowledge of the value of solid silver antiques at that time and yet instinctively, she knew she had something very valuable. She would not have parted with it at any price, she loved it so much. It became a talisman for her, a good luck charm that brought her through the war alive and, somehow, arranged for her to meet my father and fall in love at first sight.

When I was a toddler, one of the first things I remember is seeing that silver lamp, sparkling brightly and occupying pride of place on the sideboard in our dining room. I grew up rubbing the lamp and making wishes and trying to make the genie come out. It became a custom in the family and among friends to rub the lamp and make a wish. The lamp travelled to Jersey with us and then to Canada and I never failed to rub the lamp and ask the genie to come out and play with me, whenever I walked past. One day, as I rubbed the lamp with my grubby little hands, I said to my mother,"that genie will never come out."

She turned and looked at me and said,"the genie is out."

"Huh!"I brilliantly replied.

"You're the Jeannie from the lamp,"she said."I wished for you and here you are."

Post Script: We still have the lamp and two more generations have rubbed it and made wishes, many of which came true, so we respect the powers of the lamp.

My grandson gave an oral composition about the lamp at school and got the highest mark in the class. So, now he feels it's his lucky charm and he makes wishes all the time. I've told him to rely on himself, not upon a silver lamp,and he'll do just fine. Besides,you have to be very careful what you wish for. You might get it.