# Lava lamps. Love, like, dislike, hate 'em? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347 "2013-01-25T18:46:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/21 "2013-01-26T00:09:48Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Google doesn’t know what that term means. My smaller, non-electronic brain will not do better than its bigger attachment. > > Linky? [Linky](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZ8vrj-qzM) ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/22 "2013-01-26T00:11:35Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Linky? > [@Tangent](#): > > [Linky](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZ8vrj-qzM) LINKY! Doesn’t seem to beat lava lamps. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/23 "2013-01-26T00:27:34Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I love lava lamps. I can stare at one for hours. > > I once read an interview with the inventor of the lava lamp. > > “Do you think people use lava lamps to enhance the effects of drugs?” > > He replied > > “With a lava lamp, who needs drugs?” > > I agree deeply with that sentiment. No, seriously. That dude clearly never did any drug worth doing.He was just spouting a clever marketing line of BS that many people (or, at least some, apparently) fell for. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/24 "2013-01-26T00:36:16Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > No, seriously. > > That dude clearly never did any drug worth doing.He was just spouting a clever marketing line of BS that many people (or, at least some, apparently) fell for. Yeah. You could look at lava lamps _instead_ of taking drugs. Or. You could look at lava lamps _combined_ with taking drugs. But that would make you a very naughty person because winners don’t do drugs. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/25 "2013-01-26T00:58:33Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Yeah. You could look at lava lamps _instead_ of taking drugs. > > Or. > > You could look at lava lamps _combined_ with taking drugs. > > But that would make you a very naughty person because winners don’t do drugs. Busted!😛 (Does it count if it was all over 30 years ago?) ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/26 "2013-01-26T01:09:30Z")
Some time back, our bulb in the lava lamp burned out. Naturally, it’s a weirdo little non-standard size, so I had to visit the hardware store to find a new one. Two employees in their mid-fifties seemed to get quite the kick out of someone needing a replacement bulb for a lava lamp. They were riffing on Pink Floyd, smoking weed, asking if I needed a new black light as well, just cracking themselves right up. Whatever the inventor claimed, the correlation between lava lamps and drugs remains firmly entrenched it seems. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/27 "2013-01-26T01:11:39Z")
I love lava lamps. I buy them occasionally for the kids for various holiday gifts, but no one enjoys them as much as I do. Now I want one too! ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/28 "2013-01-26T01:38:03Z")
Why weren’t the options “love,” “like,” “lukewarm,” and “loathe”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/29 "2013-01-26T01:41:15Z")
[Relevant column from the Master](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/568/how-do-lava-lamps-work) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/30 "2013-01-26T01:41:31Z")
I love them, even though I didn’t grow up in the 60s. I just think they are cool looking. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/31 "2013-01-26T02:55:13Z")
I like them, I just wish they didn’t get so hot ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/32 "2013-01-26T04:25:29Z")
Completely indifferent to them. My mom had one in the '60s when she was trying out her middle-aged hippie option. If there’s one around I’ll probably look at it (if there’s no aquarium nearby), but I wouldn’t feel any loss if all Lava Lamps ceased to exist. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/33 "2013-01-26T05:17:46Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I haven’t seen a Lava lamp for sale in a store in at least a decade and I don’t want one enough to go searching for one. But if they were sold as inexpensive novelty items in stores that I frequent, I’d probably buy one on a whim. > > In fact, now I sort of want one again. Wow, really? I can think of at least three stores within a 10-20 mile radius I could for sure find one if I wanted to buy one tomorrow: Spencers, 5 Below, and K-Mart. I think Walmart might even sell them. Oh, [they do](http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?ic=32_0&tab_value=all&search_query=lava+lamp&search_constraint=0&Find=Find&pref_store=2330&ss=false&). ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/34 "2013-01-26T14:17:08Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Wow, really? I can think of at least three stores within a 10-20 mile radius I could for sure find one if I wanted to buy one tomorrow: Spencers, 5 Below, and K-Mart. I think Walmart might even sell them. Oh, [they do](http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?ic=32_0&tab_value=all&search_query=lava+lamp&search_constraint=0&Find=Find&pref_store=2330&ss=false&). Ooh. Gravy, booby! 😃 I guess I’m not much of a shopper, or I don’t go down the right aisles. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/35 "2013-01-27T04:11:23Z")
Like. It’s just that they’re a nostalgic memory from the psychedelic Sixties, my childhood, and I was pleased to see them make a comeback so many years later. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/36 "2013-01-27T04:17:12Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Like. It’s just that they’re a nostalgic memory from the psychedelic Sixties, my childhood, and I was pleased to see them make a comeback so many years later. I felt the same way, until the comeback. I guess they don’t look as good to my adult eyes. Or maybe I should have been stoned. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/37 "2013-01-29T14:11:22Z")
> [@Queen\_Tonya](#): > > Two employees in their mid-fifties seemed to get quite the kick out of someone needing a replacement bulb for a lava lamp. They were riffing on Pink Floyd, **smoking weed** … Right there in the hardware store? Geez! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/38 "2013-01-29T14:30:42Z")
I like 'em. I think they look neat and I like that they don’t give off much actual light (I like my rooms fairly dark unless I’m reading). But I have a cat, and I worry that she’ll knock it over, so I got rid of mine a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/39 "2013-01-30T07:19:54Z")
One’s on my dresser. The kids each have one. Aaaand , we have a huge fiber-optic light [thingy](http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/665957058/-font-b-Fiber-b-font-font-b-optic-b-font-light-small-night-light-home.jpg)that rotates and changes colors. They’re groovy, baby! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347/40 "2013-01-30T13:56:52Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > How about the flat glass frame rocking ocean, if I’ve described it well enough to visualize. They were hypnotic. > > > [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > > > Google doesn’t know what that term means. My smaller, non-electronic brain will not do better than its bigger attachment. > > > > Linky? [The Wave.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZ8vrj-qzM) A very close second to the low-tech coolness of Lava Lite. If only the blue stuff would glow… 🙂 I love these kind of “warm liquid goo” toys. Maybe I miss being a sperm? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lava-lamps-love-like-dislike-hate-em/648347.md?page=3)