As Seen on TV

The lighting on ‘Yellowstone’ steals the show

Craftsman Phil Myer just wanted to pick up some quarter sawn white oak at his local lumberyard. He didn’t know he was going to be famous.

“I noticed everyone was looking at me … the younger saw operator said, ‘Hey was that your lamp I saw on TV last night?’”

It was. The Prairie Craftsman Table Lamp is the star of the Yellowstone. (The second star is Kevin Costner.)

Myer has been making lamps since junior high, and now is a master craftsman with his own shop in Battle Creek, Ragsdale Home Furnishings. He specializes in the original design creation and reproduction of handcrafted lighting and tables. When the popularity of his designs outpaced production, he came to Northern Initiatives to help support the growth.

His pieces have been featured in Arts and Crafts Homes magazine, the Craftsman Bungalow and is available at retailers around the country, including Sugarhouse Furniture in Salt Lake City, where the set designers for Yellowstone came to browse in late 2018. They were looking for rustic lamps and other Mission-style furniture for the set to be built at the Chief Joseph Ranch, in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley.

“I was flattered that Kevin Costner liked my lighting.” Myer said. He wasn’t sure how many viewers the show would get, but he found out when he tried to buy lumber. It is now in its fourth season. “I’ve almost forgotten to look for my lighting in the background because I’m so fixed with what Beth Dutton is going to do next … I mean the woman is evil … but in a humorous sort of way,” he laughed.

Myer admits it’s great advertising, noting you can purchase the same lamps used on the set through the Sugarhouse Furniture website.