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There would not be anything attached to the middle part, normally. If you want to go with the period, use normal milky lightbulbs. These chandeliers usually had nice round glass covers on them, you should be able to find them on e-bay.

If this fixture is what I believe it is, it's the base of an original gasolier which was later converted to electricity.

If this is indeed what it is, the thingy in the center would not be something that a chandelier hung from, but the key that was used to turn the gas off and on - where the lightbulbs are now is where pendants that held the individual gas burners were suspended from.

If you rent the film "Meet me in St Louis" - watch for the scene where Judy Garland goes around the house at the end of a party with a long hooked wand turning off the gas lights and you'll see what I mean...

Long story short: If you want a chandelier, this will have to come down...

Our new old house has fixtures like this (though not as elaborate) that are in their original condition. They don't have a cover - the previous owners just bought lightbulbs that look good bare and plugged them in.

Ours are also still attached to an old push button switch system, which allows half the lights to be lit for mood lighting, or all of them to be lit for full illumination. You may still have the guts for a scheme like that in your ceiling or wall wiring, if you're interested in having an electrician resurrect that feature.

Check out http://www.rejuvenation.com/ for tons of info on period lighting, including your own. They have lots of great photos to get your juices flowing.

Keep it as is and add Edison bulbs (available from the abovementioned Rejuvenation). Done!

I'm no expert on gas lighting, but these look like they were designed for bulbs. When electricity first became popular, the naked bulb was considered very chic, they were only deemed ugly and covered up later. Check out all the exposed bulbs at Grand Central.

http://www.deadprogrammer.com/about-light-bulbs-and-kitchens

i'm seconding marfa's advice.

There is a place in Portland, Oregon which would be great for this:

Hippo Hardware, lighting department

You can buy things online there, but you might be better off emailing them and working with someone there on what you can do with the fixture. Good luck!

If you decide against keeping this one and want to go for a similar type of chandelier, ABC Carpet & Home has a whole section of the first floor devoted to light fixtures of this vintage.

The house I grew up in had an identical fixture. There was a little, cast-metal tassle hanging down in the center. We has silvered-bottom bulbs in ours for a while, which works great if the plaster on your ceiling is in great shape, otherwise it will highlight all the cracks. I've also seen them with the Edison bulbs and they look pretty cool.

I don't think this is a fixture that was converted from gas -- I've seen lots of other fixtures like this (and in fact I have one that's quite similar, just a bit more obviously Deco, in my bedroom) that are from the earliest days of widespread electric service in homes. The light bulbs are meant to be exposed -- after all that was the exciting part when electricity was new!

If you want to really do this fixture up in the style of its youth, you will want to get some reproduction or reproduction-style lightbulbs! Your city might have a store for lightbulb enthusiasts (Portland does: Sunlan Lighting), or you could order them through the mail. h144 mentioned Rejuvenation -- they have a variety of repro bulbs for sale. I'm sure there are other sources too. As you might have guessed, I live in Portland so mostly I know my local sources!

I am guessing that you are not from Portland, though, or you wouldn't be writing to ATNY -- if you live in New York, you might want to visit Schoolhouse Electric's New York store. It is, according to their website, in Tribeca on the corner of Hudson & Vestry. Or, you could ask for advice at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum or another architecture museum or historical society. My guess is they'd know where to refer you to get more info.

Have fun!

we had the same type of fixture in our family apartment, my mother had decorative bulbs, they had a raised pattern on the glass. we only put the ceiling lights on when the room was being cleaned.
if you don't replace the fixture, try oversized clear bulbs and install a dimmer instead of a wall switch.

Knickerbockers... I think it's on 11th and 48th or 49th. They do all kinds of lighting repair and rejuvenation. I've used them for several fixtures and one antique chandelier in the past.

Oh and they're huge, and they've been doing this stuff forever.

If you want to make it look more like a chandelier, maybe you could buy some of those pendant lights that screw into light bulb sockets. The Home Depot has a selection and I'm sure if you check around a bit, you might find something that looks more vintage.

First off... WOW!!! I can't believe I got this many GREAT answers. Thanks everyone!

I want to keep this fixture - I won't be replacing it with a chandelier. Now that I know a little more about how it was used and lit, I think I will go for some oversized, decorative bulbs. The crown bulbs sound like a great idea to me as they will light the fixture/ceiling in a great way. That and a couple lamps for reading/entertaining ought to do the trick.

@cakekick: I never thought of installing a dimmer... another good idea. We have to get the more invasive renovations approved by our landlord, so I don't know if this will be feasible. But it's definitely something to consider down the road.

Thanks so much again everyone! I'll be sure to keep the community posted on how it turns out.

crystal bulbs like these might look great in your fixture:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/look/look-new-bulbs-dress-up-ceiling-light-065544

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/lighting/ge-edison-halogen-crystal-bulb-066844