Fun stuff! Nothing beats picking up new fixtures! At least you have a car, I've walked multiple blocks with 8ft slimline strip before!
How did the pickup go? What are the guts? Any near or unusual lamps? I saw at least one old Philips, probably a 34w EconOWatt one. At least two are Sears shoplights like mine, in both generations. I now grab everything magnetic and T12 I can find. Even cheap LPF rapid start shop lights and basket wraps.
OK, since you do marine wiring now do you ever encounter anything vintage? I assume not since you do stuff like new submarines.
I totally thought of you today though: A new acquaintance is living on, well actally moving out and off of, this old wooden tugboat. Been passing by this thing for about 7 years now on a somewhat frequent basis, especially during the last three summers, it's right on the edge of the harbor system here in Sitka, AK. Totally early 1940s! You would have loved the vintage electrical that was all still there. Lots of vintage incandescent, well some of them subject to corkscrew infestation, vapor tights. Many missing globes but the remaining ones are thick glass, much nicer than modern units. ALL solid brass, like my circa 1940 vapor tight marine fixture is. Vintage braided metal cable powering them. Vintage panels but many are a rats nest now, and still live and powered.
Also lots of vintage portholes, doors, door hardware, and the like. Nice liveaboard actually. 3 wood stoves, so it would never insure LOL. One being a vintage wood cookstove.
Sadly she is living on life support, literally living on her bilge pumps, Probaby hasn't been hauled out in decades and is pretty rotten at the waterline, water is literally streaming in. Just got bad this week actually, and the people living there are renters...and the owner lives in Philadelphia and is doing nothing about it so far, despite being notified. In fact the guy was actually calling the owner while we were there, it was getting worse while we were there! I went with a couple other Co workers, one a ship wright and the other a film photographer. We crawled around down in the engine room with flashlights, trying to locate a leak but could not find it. Engine room is a toxic mess of ancient diesel, old paint cans, etc. And scary wiring, if it doesn't sink it could burn just as easily.
It was one of those if I had the money to burn and the life to devote I would do something kind of moments. It would be a neat restoration, though we're trying to get out from under an old wood boat that needs help as it is already. ONE is more than enough.
I wished the people moving off best luck, with their move and the future of the boat as well, it would be nice to see it stay around.
I have two spare F20T12s, a few spare F15T8s, two F30T12s for a future project, and not enough F96T12s to go around as it is, though that will hopefully change in the next few weeks or months, I might treat myself to a case after my final payday.